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SIX  AGES  OF  EUROPEAN  HISTORY 

From  A.D.  476  to   1878 

IN    SIX    VOLUMES 
General   Editor:   A.    H.   JOHNSON,    M.A. 

FELLOW  OF  ALL  SOULS'  COLLEGE,  OXFORD 


VOLUME    III 

THE   END  OF  THE   MIDDLE  AGE 

1273-1453 


For  the  Higher  Forms  of  Schools 

SIX  AGES  OF  EUROPEAN  HISTORY 

From  A.D.  476  to  1878 

IN  SIX  VOLUMES 

Edited  by  A.   H.  JOHNSON,  M.A. 
Fellow  of  All  Souls'  College,  Oxford 

Vol.  I.  THE  DAWN  OF  MEDL^£VAL  EUROPE.  475- 
918.  By  the  Rev.  J.  H.  B.  Masterman,  M.A.,  Professor  of 
History  in  the  University  of  Birmingham. 

Vol.  II.  THE  CENTRAL  PERIOD  OF  THE  MIDDLE 
AGE.  918-1273.  By  Beatrice  A.  Lees,  Resident  History 
Tutor,  Somerville  College,  Oxford. 

Vol.  III.  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE.  1273-1453. 
By  Eleanor  C.  Lodge,  Vice-Principal  and  Modern  History 
Tutor,  Lady  Margaret  Hall,  Oxford. 

Vol.  IV.  EUROPE  IN  RENAISSANCE  AND  REFOR- 
MATION. 1453-1660.  By  Mary  A.  Hollings,  M.A., 
Dublin,  Headmistress  of  Edgbaston  Church  of  England 
College  for  Girls. 

Vol.  V.  THE  AGE  OF  THE  ENLIGHTENED  DESPOT. 
1660-1789.  By  A.  H,  Johnson,  M.A.,  Fellow  of  All  Souls' 
College,  Oxford. 

Vol.  VI.  THE  REMAKING  OF  MODERN  EUROPE. 
1789-1878.  By  J.  A.  R.  Marriott,  M..\.,  Lecturer  and 
Tutor  in  Modern  History  and  Economics  at  Worcester 
College,  Oxford. 


THE  END  OF 
THE    MIDDLE    AGE 


1273-1453 


BY 

ELEANOR  C.    LODGE 

VICE-PRINCIPAL   AND    MODERN    HISTORY    TUTOR,    LADY   MARGARET    HALL,   OXFORD 
WITH    AN    INTRODUCTION    BY 

R.  LODGE,  M.A. 

PROFESSOR    OF    HISTORY    IN   THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    EDINBURGH 


WITH    FOURTEEN    MAPS 


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NEW  YORK:    THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

LONDON:    METHUEN  &  CO.  LTD. 

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INTRODUCTION 

"J"HE  history  of  Europe  from  1273  to  1453  is 
of   noteworthy   interest   and    importance; 
but  it  is  also  so  extraordinarily  complex  that  it  is 
impossible  to  tell  the  story  in  orderly  or  chrono- 
logical sequence.     Europe  had  lost  by  this  time  ' 
^0  such  unity  as  was  given  to  it  in  the  earlier  Middle 
Ages  by  the  prominence  of  the  Papacy  and  the 
^^  Empire ;    and   it   had   not  yet   gained   such   an 
'SJ  approach  to  unity  as  it  acquired  by  the  forma- 
^  tion  of  distinct  national  states,  whose  relations 
^  with  each    other,   whether   of   friendship   or   of 
^hostility,  render  it  possible  to  construct  a  history 
of  international  wars  and  diplomacy  from  the 
sixteenth  century  onwards.  *  y 

/   The  essential  thing  to  grasp  is  that  the  period 
/  was  one  of  transition— a  time  in  which  medic^val 
characteristics  were  decaying  and  modern  char- 
y  acteristics  were  growing  up ;  but  in  which  the 


"^tilH^'' 


/v> 


vi  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

former  had  not  disappeared  and  the  latter  were 
not  yet  strong  enough  to  take  their  place.  Popes 
and  Emperors  still  claimed  to  be  the  joint  heads 
of  Western  Christendom,  and  sometimes  acted  as 
if  their  supremacy  were  still  recognised.  But 
their  claims  were  practically  obsolete.  Some 
Emperors,  such  as  Rudolf  I.  and  Charles  IV., 
recognised  the  change  and  tried  to  devise  a  new 
policy  to  suit  the  altered  times.  Others,  such  as 
Henry  VII.  and  Sigismund,  talked  and  acted  as 
if  the  old  traditions  were  still  unshaken.  So, 
again,  we  find  a  Pope,  like  Boniface  VIII., 
defying  national  independence  in  the  tones  of 
an  Innocent  III.  or  a  Honorius  IV.  ;  whereas  a 
more  prudent  pontiff,  Martin  V.,  evaded  the 
control  of  the  Council  of  Constance  by  making 
separate  terms  with  the  various  states  of  Europe, 
and  devoted  himself,  not  so  much  to  the  task  of 
ruling  the  Church,  as  to  that  of  restoring  the 
temporal  power  in  the  papal  states. 

/  It  is  the  same  with  the  growth  of  nations 
which  ultimately  shattered  the  meaiaival  concep- 

\  tion  of  a  united  Christendom.  England  was  the 
only  state  which  was  really  organised  in  the  early 
part  of  the  period  :  and  even  England  passed  in 
the  fifteenth  century  through  a  prolonged  civil 
war — the  Wars  of  the  lioses — which  for  a  time 


rNTRODUCTION  vii 

seemed  almost  fatal  to  national  unity.  France 
underwent  horrible  convulsions  during  this 
period ;  but  the  dawn  of  better  things  began 
with  the  inspiring  career  of  Joan  of  Arc  and 
with  the  administrative  reforms  of  the  reign  of 
Charles  VII.  Spain  was  still  non-existent  by 
1453  ;  but  the  prolonged  war  against  the  Moors 
had  given  to  the  various  kingdoms  of  the  penin- 
sula such  a  community  of  interests  and  general 
character  as  facilitated  their  later  union.  The 
growth  of  German  unity  was  obstructed  by  the 
endless  diversity  of  its  political  organisms  and  by 
the  fatal  union  of  its  crown  with  the  shadowy 
dignity  of  the  Roman  Empire.  But  the  tendency 
of  the  age  towards  unity  and  consolidation  is  to 
be  traced,  even  at  this  early  date,  in  some  of  the 
separate  states  of  Germany — notably  in  Bran- 
denburg. Italy,  the  teacher  of  Europe  in  art, 
in  literature  and  in  political  philosophy,  was  the 
most  hopelessly  divided  by  its  geography  and  by 
the  strong  individucjiity  of  many  of  its  component 
parts ;  and  Italy  remained  a  mere  geographical 
expression  until  the  nineteenth  century. 

Like  all  periods  of  transition,  the  age  is  one  of 
numerous  and  bold  experiments.  Many  of  these 
experiments  were  successful,  and  many  failed  : 
but  the  history  of  the  failures  is  often  as  im- 


viii  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

portant  and  instructive  as  that  of  the  successes. 
The  great  Slav  race,  which  for  generations  had 
been  conquered  or  driven  back  eastwards  by  the 
Germans,  made  a  great  and  for  a  time  successful 
effort  to  recover  its  independence  and  extend  its 
power.  We  can  trace  this  movement  in  the 
Hussite  wars  in  Bohemia  and  the  union  of  Pol- 
and and  Lithuania  under  the  strong  house  of 
Jagello.  The  Teutonic  knights  strove  to  utilise 
the  last  crusading  impulse  of  the  Middle  Ages  to 
found  a  great  state  on  the  Baltic.  They  failed, 
because  their  organisation  was  ill-suited  for  civil 
government.  The  age  of  crusades  was  over,  and 
the  united  Slavs  were  too  powerful.  But  the 
state  of  Prussia,  after  all,  survived  the  ruin  and 
dissolution  of  its  creators.  A  notable  experi- 
ment was  the  attempt  of  the  famous  Hanseatic 
League  to  maintain  the  interests  of  merchants 
and  the  predominance  of  German  influence  in 
the  Baltic  and  the  North  Sea.  They  also  failed 
because  a  federation  of  towns  could  not  hold  its 
own  when  national  states  were  formed,  and  be- 
cause the  Baltic  lost  nuich  of  its  importance  when 
trade  was  diverted  to  the  Atlantic.  But  their 
advancements  were  great  in  themselves,  and  their 
bold  assertion  of  the  power  of  merchants  marks 
a   great   change   from  the    military  and    feudal 


INTRODUCTION  ix 

ideals  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Another  interesting 
experiment,  provoked  in  some  measure  by  the 
strength  of  the  Hanse  towns,  was  the  attempt  to 
combine  the  Scandinavian  states  by  the  Union 
of  Kalmar.  These  and  other  efforts  of  the  age 
give  it  the  appearance  of  almost  kaleidoscoijic 
variety,  but  all  have  their  lesson. 

The  most  striking  experiments,  however,  were 
those  in  art,  in  literature  and  in  science.  The 
fifteenth  century  is  pre-eminently  the  period 
which  is  known  as  the  Renaissance,  or  the  new 
birth.  One  side  of  this  intellectual  activity  is 
the  revival  of  the  study  of  ancient  learning — the 
hunt  for  manuscripts,  the  study  of  the  classical 
languages,  the  exposition  of  the  great  writers  of 
antiquity  and  the  copying  of  their  style.  Perhaps 
the  best  representatives  of  this  accumulative 
and  imitative  side  of  the  Renaissance  are  Pope 
Nicolas  v.,  the  founder  of  the  Vatican  Library, 
and  vEneas  Sylvius  Piccolomini,  afterwards  also 
Pope  as  Pius  II. 

But  the  Renaissance  was  not  only  imitative  :  it 
was  also  creative.  It  emancipated  men's  minds 
from  the  old  restraints  imposed  upon  them.  Side 
by  side  with  the  revival  of  classical  learning  went 
on  the  growth  of  national  languages  and  litera- 
tures :  of  Italian  in  Dante,  Petrarch  and  Boc- 


X  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

caccio  ;  of  English  in  Chaucer  and  Wyclif ;  of 
French  in  a  series  of  writers  between  Joinville  and 
Commines.  There  was  also  a  marvellous  display 
of  originality,  es])ecially  in  Italy,  in  painting  and 
sculpture.  It  would  take  too  long  to  describe 
the  change  in  words,  and  it  is  far  better  to  see  it 
for  oneself.  A  visit  to  the  Italian  rooms  of  the 
National  Gallery  and  a  study  of  well-selected 
photographs  of  Italian  pictures  will  enable  any 
one  to  trace  the  gradual  abandonment  of  the  stiff 
and  lifeless  forms  of  early  art,  the  close  study  of 
and  delight  in  nature,  and  the  exercise  of  un- 
fettered imagination  which  mark  the  progress  of 
painting  in  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries. 
The  object  of  this  introduction  is  to  show  that 
the  period  is  well  worthy  of  study.  The  more  it 
is  followed  out,  the  more  fascinating  it  becomes. 
f  And  it  must  never  be  forgotten  that  it  is  the 
period  which  begins  the  Renaissance  and  leads 
up  to  the  great  achievements  which  follow ; 
the  Reformation  in  the  Church  ;  the  discovery 
of  a  new  world  ;  the  spread  of  education  and 
the  diffusion  of  literature  ;  the  general  change 
throughout  Europe  from  mediaeval  to  modern  life. 

E.  LODGE 


CONTENTS 


I'AOK 

Chronological  Table .        .      xv 

Bibliography  fob  Teachebs xxi 

CHAPTER  I 
Germany  and  the  Empire,  1273-1378 1 

CHAPTER  II 
Italy,  1273-1313 27 

CHAPTER  III 
French  History,  1273-1328 49 

CHAPTER  IV 
Italy,  1313-1378 70 

CHAPTER  V 
Rise  op  the  Swiss  Republic        .        .        .        .        .        .        .98 

CHAPTER  VI 
Schisms  in  the  Papacy  and  Empire 112 

CHAPTER  VII 
French  History,  1328-1380 129 

CHAPTER  VIII 
Empire  and  Papacy,  1414-1453 155 


xii  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

CHAPTER  IX 

PAOB 

Italy,  1382-1453 ..181 

CHAPTER  X 
History  of  Phancb,  1380-1453 .     203 

CHAPTER  XI 
The  Shores  of  the  Baltic 226 

CHAPTER  XII 
The  Spanish  Peninsula 240 

CHAPTER  XIII 
The  Greek  Empire  and  the  Ottoman  Turks     ....    255 

Genealogies 273 

Index 279 


LIST   OF   MAPS 


PAGE 

The  Empire  in  1273 8 

The  Empire  in  1376 25 

Italy  in  1273 29 

Prance  in  the  Thirteenth  Century 51 

The  Swiss  Confederation Ill 

France  after  the  Peace  op  Bretigni,  1360      ....  143 

North  Italy  in  the  Fourteenth  Century        ....  187 

Venice  in  the  Fifteenth  Century     ......  195 

Italy  after  the  Peace  op  Lodi,  1454 197 

France  in  1429 217 

The  Baltic  and  North  Sea  in  the  Fourteenth  Century      .  227 

Spain  and  Portugal  in  the  Fourteenth  Century  .        .         .  241 

Advance  op  the  Ottoman  Turks 256 

Siege  op  Constantinople,  1453 265 


/" 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE 


1273.  Rudolf  of  Habsburg,  Emperor. 

1274.  Council  of  Lyons, 

Navarre  united  to  France  till  1328. 

1275.  Death  of  Pope  Gregory  X. 
127G.     Innocent  V.,  Pope. 

Hadrian  V.,  Pope. 
John  XXI.,  Pope. 
Pedro  the  Great,  King  of  Aragon. 

1277.  Nicholas  III.,  Pope. 

1278.  Battle  of  Marchfeld  and  death  of  Ottokar  of  Bohemia. 
1280.     Martin  IV.,  Pope. 

1282.     Sicilian  Vespers. 

Revolt  of  Sicily  against  Charles  of  Anjou. 
Pedro  of  Aragon  proclaimed  King  of  Sicily. 

1284.  Sancho  IV.,  King  of  Castile. 

1285.  Honorius  IV.,  Pope. 
Alfonso  III.,  King  of  Aragon. 
James  of  Aragon,  King  of  Sicily. 
Philip  IV.,  King  of  France. 

1288.    Nicholas  IV.,  Pope. 

1291.  League  of  Forest  Cantons  in  Switzerland. 
James  III.,  King  of  Aragon. 

1292,  Adolf  of  Nassau,  Emperor. 

1294.  Celestine  V.,  Pope. 
Boniface  VIII.,  Pope. 

1295.  Ferdinand  IV.,  King  of  Castile. 

1296.  Bull  Clericis  Laicos. 

1298.    Battle  of  Goellheim  and  death  of  Emperor  Adolf. 
Albert  I.,  Emperor. 


xvi  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

1299.  Sultan  Othman. 

1300.  Jubilee  in  Rome. 
1302.     Matins  of  Bruges. 

Battle  of  Courtrai. 
1803.     Attack  on  Boniface  VIII.  at  Anagni. 
Benedict  XI.,  Pope. 
Battle  of  Mons-en-Puelle. 

1305.  Clement  V.,  Pope. 

Beginning  of  "  Babylonish  Captivity  ". 

1306.  Catalan  War  in  East. 

First  entry  of  Turks  into  Europe. 

1307.  Edward  II.,  King  of  England. 

1308.  Murder  of  Albert  I. 

Henry  VII.  of  Luxemburg,  Emperor. 

1309.  Robert,  King  of  Naples. 

1310.  John  of  Luxemburg,  King  of  Bohemia. 
Emperor  Henry  VII.  invaded  Italy. 

1312.  Matteo  Visconti,  Imperial  Vicar  in  Milan. 
Coronation  of  Henry  VII.  at  Rome. 
Suppression  of  the  Templars  in  France. 
Alfonso  XL,  King  of  Castile. 

1313.  Death  of  Emperor  Henry  VII.  at  Siena. 

Double  election  of  Lewis  of  Bavaria  and  Frederick  of  Austria. 

1314.  Louis  X.,  King  of  France. 

1315.  Battle  of  Morgarten. 

1316.  Philip  v..  King  of  France. 

1322.     Battle  of  Miihldorf — Victory  of  Lewis  of  Bavaria. 
Charles  IV.,  King  of  France. 

1326.  Sultan  Orchan. 

1327.  Alfonso  IV.,  King  of  Aragon. 
Edward  III.,  King  of  England. 

1328.  Coronation  of  Emperor  Lewis  in  Rome  (Jan.). 
Philip  VI.,  King  of  France. 

Navarre  again  independent. 
1330.     Invasion  of  Italy  by  John  of  Bohemia. 
1836.    Pedro  IV.,  King  of  Aragon. 

1337.  Beginning   of   Hundred   Years'   War    between    England   and 

France. 

1338.  Declaration  of  Rense. 
1340.    Battle  of  Sluys. 

Battle  of  Salado. 

Waldemar  III.  (Atterdag),  King  of  Denmark. 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE  xvu 

1341.     Petrarch  crowned  as  poet  at  Home. 

Joanna  I.,  Queen  of  Naples. 

Disputed  succession  in  Brittany. 
1343.     Duke  of  Athens  ruler  of  Florence. 
1345.     Murder  of  Jacob  van  Artevelde. 

1316.  Battle  of  Cre^y. 
Siege  of  Calais. 

1317.  Death  of  Emperor  Lewis. 
Charles  IV.  of  Bohemia,  Emperor. 
Rienzi  Tribune  of  Roman  Republic. 
Abdication  of  Rienzi. 

Invasion  of  Naples  by  Lewis  of  Hungary. 
1348.     Black  Death. 

Battle  of  Epila. 
1360.     Visit  of  Rienzi  to  Emperor  Charles  IV. 

War  between  Venice  and  Genoa. 

John  the  Good,  King  of  France. 

Pedro  the  Cruel,  King  of  Castile. 

1354.  Return  of  Rienzi  to  Rome  and  his  death. 
Coronation  of  Emperor  Charles  IV.  at  Rome. 
Battle  of  Sapienza. 

Conspiracy  of  Marin  Falier  in  Venice. 

1355.  War  between  Venice  and  Hungary. 

ifitienne  Marcel,  Provost  of  Merchants  in  Paris. 
Rule  of  Bernabo  and  Galeazzo  Visconti  in  Milan. 

1366.  The  Golden  Bull. 
Battle  of  Poitiers. 

1368.  The  Jacquerie. 

Murder  of  Etienne  Marcel. 

1360.  Peace  of  Bretigni  (England  and  France). 

1361.  Sack  of  Wisby  by  Waldemar  III. 

1362.  War  between  Denmark  and  the  Hanse  Towns. 
1364.     Charles  V.,  King  of  France. 

Battle  of  Aurai  and  end  of  War  in  Brittany. 

1367.  Battle  of  Navaretta  or  Najara. 

1369.  Pedro  killed  by  Henry  of  Tiastamare. 
Henry  II.,  King  of  Castile. 

John  of  Gaunt  claimed  crown. 

1370.  Treaty  of  Stralsund  (Denmark  and  Hanseatic  League). 
1875.     Death  of  Waldemar  Atterdag. 

Olaf,  King  of  Denmark. 
1377.     Richard  II.,  King  of  England. 


xviii  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

1378.  Death  of  Charles  IV. 

Return  of  Pope  to  Rome  and  end  of  Babylonish  Captivity. 

Death  of  St.  Catherine  of  Siena. 

War  of  Chioggia  between  Venice  and  Genoa. 

Papal  Schism — Double  election — Urban  VI,  (Rome). 

Clement  VII.  (Avignon). 

Wenzel  of  Luxemburg,  Emperor. 

Gian  Galeazzo  in  Milan. 

1379.  John  I.,  King  of  Castile. 

1380.  Death  of  Du  Guesclin. 
Charles  VI.,  King  of  Prance. 

1381.  Peace  of  Turin  (Venice  and  Genoa). 

1382.  Charles  III.,  King  of  Naples — Succession  disputed. 
Battle  of  Rosbecque. 

1385.     Charles  III.  of  Naples,  King  of  Hungary. 
1886.     Battle  of  Sempach. 

Murder  of  Charles  III.  of  Naples. 

Jagello  of  Lithuania,  King  of  Poland. 

Ladislas,  King  of  Naples. 

1387.  Margaret,  Queen  of  Norway  and  Denmark. 
John  I.,  King  of  Aragon. 

Sigismund,  King  of  Hungary. 
Town  War  in  Bohemia. 

1388.  Battle  of  Nafels. 
Battle  of  Ddffingen. 
Boniface  IX.,  Pope  (Rome). 
Peace  of  Eger. 

Sultan  Bajazet  Ilderim. 
Margaret  of  Denmark,  Queen  of  Sweden. 
1390.     Henry  III.,  King  of  Castile. 

1393.  Convention  of  Sempach. 
Recognition  of  Swiss  Confederation. 

1394.  Benedict  XII.,  Pope  (Avignon). 

1395.  Milan  became  a  Duchy. 
Martin  I.,  King  of  Aragon. 

1396.  Battle  of  Nicopolis. 

1397.  Union  of  Kalmar. 

1399.  Henry  IV.,  King  of  England. 

1400.  Imperial  Schism. 

Deposition  of  Wenzel  and  election  of  Rupert  of  the  Palatinate. 
1402.     Death  of  Gian  Galeazzo. 
Battle  of  Angora. 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE  xix 

Innocent  VII.,  Pope  (Konie). 

Gregory  XII.,  Pope  (Rome). 

John  II.,  King  of  Castile. 

Murder  of  Duke  of  Orleans. 

Quarrels  of  Burgundians  and  Armagnaes. 

Council  of  Pisa. 

Kingdom  of  Sicily  united  to  Aragon. 

Battle  of  Tannenberg. 

Election  of  third  Pope,  Alexander  V. 

John  XXIII.,  Pope  (Rome), 

Triple  Schism  in  Empire — Sigismund  of  Hungary  and  Jobst  of 

Moravia  elected. 
Disputed  succession  in  Aragon. 

1411.  Death  of  Jobst — Sigismund  recognised. 
Battle  of  Rocca  Secca. 

1412.  Pilippo  Maria  Visconti,  Duke  of  Milan. 
Ferdinand  I.,  King  of  Aragon. 

Eric  of  Pomerania,  King  of  Norway,  Sweden  and  Denmark. 

1413.  Henry  V.,  King  of  England. 

1414.  Death  of  Ladislas  of  Naples. 
Joanna  II.,  Queen  of  Naples. 
Opening  of  Council  of  Constance. 

1415.  Deposition  of  John  XXIII. 

Execution  of  Huss  and  of  Jerome  of  Prague, 
English  invasion  of  Prance. 
Battle  of  Agincourt. 
141G.     Alfonso  V.,  King  of  Aragon. 

1418.  Martin  V.,  Pope,  elected  at  Council  of  Constance. 
End  of  Council  of  Constance. 

1419.  Outbreak  of  Hussite  War. 

Death  of  Wenzel — Sigismund,  King  of  Bohemia. 
Murder  of  John  the  Fearless  of  Burgundy. 

1420.  Four  Articles  of  Prague. 

Treaty  of  Troyes  (England  and  France). 
1422.     Death  of  Henry  V.  of  England  and  Charles  VI.  of  France. 
Charles  VII.,  King  of  France. 
Henry  VI.,  King  of  England. 

1424.  Ziska's  Bloody  Year  and  his  death. 
Battle  of  Verneuil. 

1425.  War  between  Venice  and  Milan. 

1427.     Defeat  of  Cardinal  Beaufort's  Hussite  Crusade. 
Battle  of  Tauss. 


XX  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

1429.     Orleans  saved  by  Joan  of  Arc. 
Battle  of  Patay. 
Charles  VII.  crowned  at  Rheiins, 

1431.  Summons  of  Council  of  Basle. 
Eugenius  IV.,  Pope. 

Revolt  of  Rome  against  Pope. 
Joan  of  Arc  burnt  at  Rouen. 

1432.  Hussite  deputies  at  Basle. 

1433.  Compacts  with  Bohemia. 
Civil  War  in  Bohemia. 

1434.  Battle  of  Lipan. 

Cosimo  de'  Medici  in  Florence. 

1435.  Death  of  Joanna  II.  of  Naples— Disputed  succession. 
Treaty  of  Arras  (France  and  Burgundy). 

1436.  Sigismund  crowned  King  of  Bohemia. 

1437.  Death  of  Sigismund. 

1438.  Council  of  Ferrara. 

Albert  II.  of  Austria,  Emperor. 

1439.  Council  of  Florence. 

Union  of  Greek  and  Latin  Churches. 
Felix  v.,  Anti-Pope. 

1440.  Frederick  III.,  Emperor. 

1442.     Alfonso  of  Aragon  became  King  of  Naples. 
1444.     Battle  of  Varna. 

1447.     Alliance  between  Germany  and  Pope  Eugenius. 
Nicholas  V.,  Pope. 

1449.  End  of  Council  of  Basle. 

1450.  Francesco  Sforza,  Duke  of  INIilan. 

1452.  Coronation  of  Frederick  III.  at  Rome. 

1453.  Battle  of  Castillon  and  end  of  Hundred  Years'  War. 
Fall  of  Constantinople. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

FOE  TEACHEKSi 

AUTHORITIES 
General : — 

Creighton :  History  of  the  Faxiacy  during  the  Reformation,  vols. 

i.-iii. 
Froissart :    Chroniques   (translated    and    abridged    in   the   Globe 

Series). 
Hallam  :  State  of  Europe  in  the  Middle  Ages. 
Lavisse  and  Hambaud  :  Histoire  Generate,  vol.  iii. 
Lodge  :  Tlie  Close  of  the  Middle  Ages. 
Milman  :  History  of  Latin  Christianity. 
Poole :  Illustrations  of  Mediceval  Tlwught. 
Thatcher  and   Schill :   Europe  in  the  Middle  Ages   and    General 

History  of  Europe. 

Germany: — 

Bryce  :  Holy  Roman  Empire. 

Carlyle  :  Frederick  the  Great,  vol.  i. 

Daendliker  :  Short  History  of  Switzerland. 

Droysen :  Geschichte  der  Freussischen  Politik,  vols,  i.,  ii. 

Lewis  :  History  of  Germany. 

Loserth  :  Hus  and  Wyclif. 

McCrackan :  The  Rise  of  the  Swiss  Republic. 

Palacky :  Gesdiichte  von  BUhinen. 

Treitschke ;    Historische    und   politische  Aufsdtze,    vol.    ii.    (Das 

Deutsche  Ordenstand  Preusseu). 
Turner :  Germanic  Constitution. 
Zeller :  Histoire  de  rAlleniagne,  vols,  vi.,  vii. 
Zimraern  :  Hansa  Tuivns  ("  Story  of  the  Nations  Series  "). 

'  A  list  of  books  suitable  for  students  will  be  found  at  the  end  of 
each  chapter. 


xxii  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

Italy  :— 

Brown,  Horatio  :  Venice,  an  historical  sketch. 

Browning,  Oscar  :  Slwrt  History  of  MedicBval  Italy,  1250-1530. 

Ewart :  Cosimo  dc'  Medici. 

Gregorovius:  Rome  in  the  Middle  Ages,  vols,  vi.,  vii. 

Machiavelli :  Storia  Fiorentina  (translated  in  Bohn  Library). 

Napier  :  Florentine  History,  vols,  i.-iii, 

Sismondi :  Histoirc  des  Bepubliques  Italicnnes  du  moyen  dge,  vols. 

ii.-vi. 
Villani,  Giovanni  and  Matteo :  Cr&niclie  (part  of  Giovanni  Villani 
translated  by  Selfe  and  Wicksteed). 

France  and  the  Netherlands  : — 

Ashley :  James  and  Philip  van  Artevelde. 
Froissart :  Chronigues. 

Gasquet :  Precis  des  institutions  de  Vancienne  France. 
Kingsford  ;  Henry  V. 
Lang,  Andrew  :  Maid  of  Orleans. 
Lavisse  :  Histoire  de  France,  vols,  iii.,  iv. 

Luce,  Simeon :  Histoire  de  la  Jacfjuerie  and  La  jennesse  de  Bert- 
rand  dn  Ouesclin. 
Martin  :  Histoire  de  Fratice,  vols,  iv.-vi. 
Michelet :  Histoire  de  France,  vols.  iii. -vii. 
Monstrelet :  Chroniques. 
Murray,  Douglas :  Jeanne  d'Arc. 

Spain : — 

Burke  :  History  of  Spain. 

Merimee  :  Pi^dre  I.,  Roi  de  Castile. 

Yonge,  Charlotte  M. :  Christians  and  Moors  in  Spain. 

Northern  Europe: — 

Hill,  IMary :  Margaret  of  Denmark. 

MorfiU  :  History  of  Poland  and  History  of  Russia. 

Otte :  Scandinavian  History. 

Greek  Empire : — 

Gibbon  :  Decline  and  Fall,  vol.  iv. 

La  Jonqui^re  :  Histoire  de  V Empire  Ottoman. 

Pears  :  Tlie  Destruction  of  the  Greek  Empire, 


THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

1273-1453 
CHAPTER  I 

GERMANY  AND  THE  EMPIRE,  1273-1378 

BEFORE  1273  the  decline  of  Imperial  supremacy  Tiie  Em- 
had  already  begun.  The  great  Emperors  of  the  1273^ 
Hohenstaufen  family,  Frederick  Barbarossa,  Henry  VI. 
and  Frederick  II.  had  done  something  in  the  past  to  re- 
vive the  already  weakening  power  of  the  Empire  and  to 
maintain  the  theory  of  universal  rule ;  but  the  fall  of  their 
dynasty  was  followed  by  disastrous  disputes  between 
rival  Emperors,  an  epoch  known  as  the  "  Great  Inter- 
regnum," which  did  much  to  destroy  the  authority  of 
the  monarch  both  in  Germany  and  in  Europe ;  and  the 
period  now  opening  was  marked  by  still  further  dechne 
in  the  ideal  of  Imperial  supremacy,  and  in  domestic 
power. 

In  theory  the  Empire  was  still  the  Roman  Empire ;  Theory  of 
the  Emperor  was  direct  successor  of  the  Caesars,  "  sem-  ^^^^j^^^^^^ 
per  Augustus,"  with  temporal  rule  over  the  whole  world.  Empire 
From  the  days  of  Frederick  Barbarossa  the  title  "  Holy  " 
had  added  a  character  of  sanctity  to  the  institution,  had 
upheld  the  claim  of  the  Emperor  to  divine  right  to  rule 
over  Christian  society,  and  had  placed  the  "  Holy  Roman 
Empire  "  side  by  side  with  the  "  Holy  Catholic  Church  ". 
X 


2  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

Pope  and  Emperor  together  were  to  exercise  spiritual 
and  temporal  rule  over  the  world,  and  to  form  the  one 
bond  of  unity  in  a  Europe  composed  of  masses  of  feudal 
States. 

This  mediaeval  ideal  of  universal  authority  had  always 
been  shadowy  and  unreal,  but  not  without  effect.  Al- 
though England,  France  and  Spain,  the  most  indepen- 
dent countries  of  Europe,  had  never  really  acknowledged 
the  territorial  supremacy  of  the  Emperor,  and  their 
kings  had  refused  to  do  homage  for  their  lands,  they 
had  never  failed  to  recognise  Imperial  precedence  ;  and 
even  in  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries,  despite 
the  discredit  caused  by  the  Great  Interregnum,  the 
Emperor  was  still  looked  up  to  as  an  international 
power,  and  Imperialist  doctrines  were  still  held  by 
writers  and  students  of  the  science  of  government. 
Thus  in  theory  the  Emperor  claimed  the  right  to  be 
recognised  as  the  superior  of  all  European  kings  and 
rulers,  but  in  reality,  though  his  opinion  might  have  had 
weight  in  the  case  of  any  question  of  international 
interest,  only  certain  small  States  admitted  his  authority 
within  their  own  borders,  and  the  term  Empire  came  to 
have  a  definite  territorial  significance.  At  the  close  of 
the  thirteenth  century,  France  lay  outside  the  Imperial 
limits  on  the  West,  although  her  boundaries  were  more 
restricted  than  in  modern  days,  and  Provence,  Burgundy 
and  Lorraine  were  all  strictly  parts  of  the  Empire;  on 
the  East,  Poland  and  Hungary  were  still  independent, 
and  on  the  South  part  only  of  Italy  was  considered 
as  actually  Imperial  laud.  Outside  these  boundaries, 
the  Emperor  might  perhaps  command  respect  for  his 
dignity,  but  could  certainly  not  enforce  obedience  to  his 
authority. 


GERMANY  AND  THE  EMPIRE,  1273-1378  3 

There  was  also  another  aspect  of  the  Imperial  posi-  Connection 
tion.  Ever  since  the  tenth  century  the  German  the  Enipire 
Monarchy  had  heen  attached  to  the  Eoman  Empire ;  or  tielmal 
in  other  words  the  same  man  had  always  held  the  two  Kingsiiip 
dignities  of  German  King  and  Koman  Emperor;  and 
this  with  disastrous  results.  The  interests  of  the  Em- 
pire and  of  the  Kingdom  of  Germany  were  hardly  ever 
the  same,  and  yet  each  was  certain  to  suffer  from  any- 
thing which  hurt  the  other.  For  example,  when  the 
Emperor  fought  expensive  wars  in  Italy  they  in  no  way 
benefited  the  German  Kingdom,  but  Germany  suffered 
very  much  from  Imperial  quarrels  with  the  Papacy, 
which  brought  her  also  into  discord  with  Kome.  Again 
the  fact  that  the  German  nobles  were  Imperial  vassals, 
Princes,  that  is,  who  held  their  estates  straight  from  the 
Emperor,  gave  them  an  exalted  sense  of  their  own 
dignity  and  made  them  less  ready  to  submit  to  the  rules 
which  he  laid  down  in  his  character  of  King.  Above 
all,  because  the  Empire  was  elective  the  German  Mon- 
archy became  elective  also,  and  this  system  of  choosing 
the  ruler  weakened  the  power  of  the  Crown  so  much 
that  it  was  almost  destroyed. 

Each  Emperor  was  supposed  to  go  through  four  The  four 
coronations.  This,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  he  rarely  did,  ^™^™'^ 
but  the  three  most  important  crowns  were  generally  as- 
sumed. The  German  crown  of  Aachen  (Aix-la-Chapelle) 
only  conferred  strictly  speaking  the  title  of  King  of  the 
Eomans,  the  preliminary  step  for  every  Emperor.  The 
crown  of  Burgundy  was  of  slight  account  and  during 
our  period  Charles  IV.  was  the  only  Emperor  who  went 
to  Aries  to  obtain  it.  The  third  crown  of  Italy  or 
Lombardy  was  received  at  Milan  or  Monza,  and,  chief 
of  all,  the  real  Imperial  crown  itself  could  only  be  con- 


4  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

f erred  at  Rome  and  was  held  to  bring  with  it  that  right 
of  universal  rule  so  splendid  in  theory,  so  feeble,  as  we 
have  seen,  in  practice.     Quite  strictly  the  Emperor  elect 
was  only  King   of   the  Romans   until  this   important 
ceremony  had  been  completed,  but  he  could  exercise  full 
powers  from  the  time  of  his  coronation  at  Aachen,  and 
it  has  generally  been  found  convenient  to  give  him  his 
full  title  from  the  first. 
Tiie  Great       With  the  death  of  the  last  representative  of  the  great 
mim"il54- family  of  Hohenstaufeu,  which  for  more  than  a  century 
^^'■■^  had  occupied  the  Imperial  throne,  there  was  great  hesi- 

tation on  the  part  of  the  Electors  to  fill  up  the  vacant 
office.  The  right  of  choice  had  now  become  practically 
centred  in  the  hands  of  seven  great  Princes  ;  the  Arch- 
bishops of  Mayence  (Mainz),  Treves  (Trier)  and  Co- 
logne (Koln),  to  represent  the  German  Church,  and  four 
lay  Electors.  These  latter  ought  to  have  represented 
the  four  great  nations  of  which  Germany  was  composed, 
Franks,  Sw^abians,  Saxons  and  Bavarians ;  but  the 
Duchies  of  Franconia  and  Swabia  no  longer  existed, 
and  the  right  was  exercised  by  the  Count  Palatine  of 
the  Rhine  and  the  Margrave  of  Brandenburg  in  com- 
pany with  the  Dukes  of  Saxony  and  Bavaria.  In  1256 
the  votes  of  this  "  Electoral  College  "  had  been  divided 
between  Richard  of  Cornwall,  brother  of  Henry  III.  of 
England,  and  Alfonso  the  Wise  of  Castile.  The  former 
was  crowned  at  Aachen  and  paid  an  occasional  visit  to 
Germany,  but  never  really  took  up  his  office  ;  the 
Castilian  King  did  no  more  than  issue  an  occasional 
proclamation.  The  result  was,  that  with  no  restraining 
hand  to  check  their  encroachments  and  private  feuds, 
the  nobles  became  more  unmanageable  than  ever,  and 
feudalism  ran  rampant. 


GERMANY  AND  THE  EMPIRE,  1273-1378  5 

When  Eichard  of  Cornwall  died  in  1272,  the  country 
was  in  such  a  state  of  anarchy  and  turmoil  that  all 
parties  felt  the  need  of  a  real  ruler  ;  and  Pope  Gregory 
X.,  who  was  anxious  above  all  things  to  raise  a  new 
Crusade,  for  which  a  German  monarch  would  be  the 
best  leader,  refused  to  recognise  the  clailBS  of  the  un- 
energetic  Alfonso,  and  urged  a  fresh  election.  There- 
fore, in  1273,  the  question  of  a  new  Emperor  and  a  new 
King  of  Germany  was  seriously  considered,  and  the 
choice  of  the  Electors  fell  on  Kudolf,  Count  of  Habs- 
burg,  a  Prince  who  they  hoped  was  neither  strong 
enough  nor  rich  enough  to  rouse  much  fear  or  jealousy 
by  his  elevation. 

The  new"  Emperor  was  a  man  of  considerable  force  |^"'^°m;' 
and  independence,  or,  as  Carlyle  puts  it :  "  Justness  of 
insight,  toughness  of  character  and  general  strength  of 
bridle-hand".  Kudolf  was  not  one  of  the  chief  Princes 
of  Germany,  but  an  important  Count  nevertheless,  and 
from  his  Hawk's  Castle  in  Switzerland  (Habichtsburg 
or  Habsburg)  had  spread  his  power  widely  throughout 
the  old  Duchy  of  Swabia.  In  person  he  was  far  above 
the  average  height,  thin  and  upright,  with  small  hands 
and  feet,  and  a  face  whose  eagle  eye  and  hooked  nose 
l)etokened  strength  and  energy,  while  his  thin  deter- 
mined lips  were  also  capable  of  showing  a  keen  sense  of 
humour.  Moderate  in  meat  and  drink  and  zealous  in 
warlike  I  enterprises,  he  was  the  darling  of  his  soldiers 
and  commanded  general  respect  and  admiration.  His 
piety  is  shown  by  the  story  of  how  he  lent  his  horse  to 
a  poor  Priest  who  was  carrying  the  Host  to  a  sick  man 
and  was  afraid  to  cross  a  rapid  torrent,  and  then  refused 
to  take  back  an  animal  which  had  carried  so  sacred  a 
])urden.     Something  of  his  promptness  and  resource  is 


6  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

seen  in  the  account  of  his  coronation  at  Aachen.  When 
the  new  sovereign  was  prepared  to  receive  the  homage 
of  his  princely  vassals,  there  was  no  sceptre  forth- 
coming, and  without  it  he  could  not  bestow  the  fiefs : 
delay  might  have  been  dangerous,  for  the  nobles  were 
none  too  friendly ;  but  Rudolf  averted  any  postpone- 
ment of  the  ceremony  by  seizing  the  Crucifix  from  the 
altar,  and  declaring  that  the  sacred  sign  of  salvation  for 
the  world  could  well  be  his  sceptre. 

It  was  over  a  very  complicated  dominion  that  Rudolf 
was  called  to  rule.  Germany  was  split  up  amongst 
many  great  Princes  both  spiritual  and  temporal.  Arch- 
bishops, Bishops  and  Abbots  held  what  were  called 
Sceptre-fiefs,  since  they  were  granted  to  them  originally 
by  presentation  of  a  sceptre.  Lay  lords,  such  as  Dukes, 
Margraves,  Palgraves  and  Graves  had  banner-fiefs.  AH 
claimed  to  have  no  superior  but  the  Emperor  ;  all  as- 
serted the  right  to  exercise  practically  independent  power 
in  their  own  estates,  to  judge  their  own  causes,  levy  their 
own  taxes,  and  make  their  own  wars  as  they  wished. 
The  breaking  up  of  the  old  Duchies  of  Franconia  and 
Swabia  had  largely  increased  the  number  of  tenants-in- 
chief,  landowners  that  is,  holding  straight  from  the 
Emperor  himself ;  and  quite  insignificant  nobles,  small 
towns  and  even  villages  often  claimed  the  head  of  the 
Empire  as  their  immediate  overlord.  This  multiplica- 
tion of  estates  was  aided  by  the  very  usual  practice  of 
dividing  the  property  of  a  dead  man  amongst  all  his 
sons,  instead  of  giving  the  whole  to  the  eldest. 

Certain  families  were  particularly  important  at  this 
time.  The  Ascanian  family  ruled  in  the  Mark  of  Bran- 
denburg and  in  the  Duchy  of  Saxony.  The  House  of 
Wittelsbach  was  also  split  into  two  branches ;  the  elder 


GERMANY  AND  THE  EMPIRE,  1273-1378  7 

possessed  Upper  Bavaria  and  the  Palatinate ;  the 
younger  ruled  in  Lower  Bavaria.  The  Welfs  held  the 
Duchy  of  Brunswick ;  the  Wettins,  later  possessors  of 
Saxony,  were  now  the  lords  of  Meissen  and  Thuringia. 
Besides  the  Habsburgs  themselves,  there  were  two  other 
families  which  were  to  become  very  prominent  later : 
the  House  of  Luxemburg  in  the  territory  of  the  same 
name,  and  the  Hohenzollerns,  the  head  of  which — 
Frederick  Burggrave  of  Nuremberg,  was  a  cousin  of 
Eudolf,  and  had  been  largely  influential  in  securing  his 
election. 

The  three  Archbishops  with   electoral  powers  were  Spiritual 

.  Princes 

the  most  miportant  spnntual  Prmces,  though  there  were 
many  others,  for  most  great  Churchmen  were  territorial 
lords.  By  far  the  most  powerful  and  dangerous  tem- 
poral ruler  of  the  time  was  Ottokar  of  Bohemia,  who  in  ottokar  of 

-,-•■■  i'/-ii  T7--        T  11,1  T  j_  Bohemia.— 

addition  to  this  Slav  Kingdom,  had  taken  advantage  a  Slav 
of  the  Interregnum  to  lay  hands  on  Austria,   Styria,  j^^^^g^^i^'^'' 
Carinthia  and  Carniola,  which  gave  him  a  very  firm  foot- Germany 
hold  in  South-East  Germany. 

Besides  Princes  and  Bishops,  the  Imperial  Cities  were  imperial 

ri  c     1       1  c  Cities 

now  rising  to  importance.  Some  of  the  larger  towns  oi 
Germany,  those  of  the  South  which  had  prospered  be- 
cause of  their  proximity  to  the  great  trade  routes  ;  and 
those  of  the  North  which  carried  on  commerical  enter- 
prises by  means  of  the  Baltic  and  the  North  Sea,  were 
independent  of  all  but  the  Emperor,  were  recognised  as 
estates  of  the  realm  capable  of  representation  in  the 
Imperial  Diet,  and  were  called  Imperial  Cities.  These 
Diets  were  in  theory  feudal  Councils  of  the  whole  Empire 
summoned  from  all  parts  of  the  realm  for  common  busi- 
ness and  composed  of  all  the  great  Princes  and  represen- 
tatives of  the  Imperial  towns ;  but  they  met  at  present 


8  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

very  irregularly,  and  had  little  control  over  the  different 
States,  amongst  which  they  were  intended  to  bring  some 
sort  of  unity. 


THE  EMPIRE  in  1273 


Habsburg  Lands      ^'«^«•l  Possessions  of  King  Ottokar 

Rudolf's        Rudolf  showed  his  practical  wisdom  and  clear  sight- 

Grermau  '-  _  .  .    "^    . 

policy       edness  by  realising  that  it  was  impossible  to  maintain 
the  old  ambitions  of  the  Hohenstaufen,  that  he  would 


GERMANY  AND  THE  EMPIRE,  1273-1378  9 

only  waste  his  strength  in  vain  endeavour  should  he 
strive  to  regain  their  ItaHan  possessions,  and  that  his  true 
poHcy  was  to  strengthen  his  position  in  Germany,  to 
reduce  the  excessive  power  of  his  Imperial  vassals,  and 
to  build  up  a  strong  territorial  position  for  his  own  family. 
To  effect  this  it  was  necessary  to  win  allies,  to  secure 
the  friendship  of  the  Pope,  to  crush  out  rivals  to  his 
power.  That  he  intended  to  emphasise  the  national 
character  of  his  policy  is  shown  by  his  persistent  use 
of  German  in  State  documents  and  in  the  prosecution  of 
business.  When  a  messenger  from  the  King  of  Bohemia 
began  to  explain  his  embassy  in  Latin,  he  was  interrupted 
by  the  Emperor  with  the  words  :  "  Lord  Bishop,  when 
you  have  only  concern  with  Priests  use  your  Latin,  but 
amongst  us  speak  German".     Eudolf's  first  act  was  to  Marriage 

„   .        ,       ,  .  /.    1   •  /•         •!       alliances 

gam  friends  by  the  marriages  of  his  numerous  family. 
On  the  day  of  his  coronation  one  daughter  was  wedded  to 
Lewis  of  the  Palatinate  and  another  to  Albert  of  Saxony. 
Next   he  turned  his  attention    to    the    Pope.      Rudolf 
never  went  to  Rome  to  receive  the  Lnperial  crown,  but 
he   had    a   magnificent   meeting   with    Gregory    X.  at  Meeting 
Lausanne,  where  he  formally  confirmed  cessions  of  Italian  Gregory  x. 
territory  already  made  to  the  Pope,  gave  up  any  claims  ^^^^^^^1^' 
to  the  Angevin  Kingdom  of  Naples  and  Sicily,  and  together  Oct.  1275 
with  many  of  his  Barons  took  the  Cross,  in  token  that 
he  would,  on  the  first  opportunity,  fulfil  the  Pope's  most 
fervent  wish,  by   undertaking   a  Crusade  to  the  Holy 
Land.     The  old  policy  of  the  Hohenstaufen  was  finally 
abandoned,  when  the  Habsburg  Monarch  made  a  treaty 
of  friendship  with  Charles  of  Anjou,  their  bitterest  enemy, 
and    promised   to    marry    his    daughter    dementia    to 
Charles'    grandson.      Italian    schemes    certainly    never 
tempted  the  prudent  Emperor ;  "  Italy  is  like  the  lion's 


10 


THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 


Relations 
with  Ot- 
tokar  of 
Bohemia 


Homage 
Ottokar 


cave,"  he  was  wont  to  say,  "  one  sees  traces  of  the  steps 
of  those  who  go  thither,  but  never  of  those  who  return." 
After  these  measures  Rudolf  was  ready  to  turn  his 
attention  nearer  home.    He  felt  his  position  in  Germany 
would  never  be  secure,    so  long  as  he  was  threatened 
by  the  enmity   of  Ottokar   of   Bohemia.     Ottokar  had 
never   recognised  the   election  of   1277 ;  his    own  vote 
had  been   rejected,  although  as  King   of   Bohemia   he 
claimed  the  rights  of  an  Elector,  by  virtue  of  his  office  of 
Imperial  cupbearer ;  he  had  also  repeatedly  refused  to 
appear  at  the  Diet  to  justify  his  possession  of  the  Ger- 
man   Dukedoms   of   Austria,    Carinthia   and    Carniola, 
and  had  of  course  never  done  homage.    Despite  the  rather 
doubtful  support  of  some  of  the  Princes,  the  Emperor 
found   a    good   many    German   nobles   ready  to   fight 
against  the  Slav    King,  and  his  army  was  sufficiently 
strong  to  cause  the   capitulation  of  Vienna  and    force 
Ottokar  to  come  to  terms.     The  latter  consented  to  do 
homage   for   Bohemia   and   Moravia,  to   renounce  his 
claims  to  Austria,  Styria,  Carinthia  and  Carniola,  and  a 
double  marriage    was    arranged   between   a    son    and 
daughter  of  each  monarch. 
of     There  is  a  story  that  this  homage  was  to  take  place 
privately  in  a  tent,  and  that  during  the  ceremony  the  tent 
collapsed,   revealing   the  proud  Ottokar,   magnificently 
dressed,  on  his  knees   before   the   "Pauper   Count"  of 
Habsburg  in  his  plain  leather  jerkin.    Such  an  incident, 
however,  is  not  only  totally  improbable,  but  quite  un- 
necessary as  an  explanation  of  the  speedy  failure  of  the 
present  agreement.     Neither  side  adhered  fully  to  the 
terms,  the  marriage  plans  were  never  accomplished,  and 
the   discontent   of   many   Imperial   nobles,   who  found 
Rudolf   less    compHant    than   they    had   hoped,    gave 


GERMANY  AND  THE  EMPIRE,  1273-1378  H 

Ottokar   an  opportunity ;  the   death  of   Pope   Gregory 
robbed  the  Emperor  of  another  alJy ;  and  in  1278  the 
Bohemian  King  renewed  war  with  every  hope  of  success. 
The  two  armies  met  on  a  great  plain,  north  of  Vienna,  Battle  of 
known  as  the  Marchfeld,  and  an  engagement  of  great  feid,  26th  ' 
violence  took  place.     Both  Kings  fought  in  the  thick  of  ^"^-  ^'^^^ 
the  battle.      Eudolf   at  one  moment  was  attacked   by 
two  Knights  at  once,  had  his  horse  killed  under  him, 
rolled  off  into  a  stream  and  was  only  rescued  just  in 
time  from  this  awkward  situation. 

Ottokar  fought  gallantly  long  after  success  was  hope-  Death  of 
less,  but  was  killed  treacherously  in  the  end  by  two 
Austrian  soldiers,  who  attacked  him  after  his  surrender, 
in  revenge  for  his  execution  of  one  of  their  relations  for 
brigandage ;  and  his  adversary  who  had  commanded 
that  his  life  should  be  spared  arrived  too  late  to  save 
him.  The  Bohemian  defeat  was  complete.  The  King- 
dom was  handed  over  to  the  guardianship  of  Otto  Mar- 
grave of  Brandenburg  during  the  minority  of  the  dead 
Ottokar's  young  son,  Wenzel  II.  of  Bohemia ;  Wenzel  was 
married  to  Eudolf 's  daughter  Guta,  and  his  sister  Agnes 
to  a  son  of  the  Emperor ;  Austria  and  the  other  disputed 
provinces  were  bestowed  upon  Eudolf 's  two  eldest  sons, 
Albert  and  Eudolf,  with  the  exception  of  Carinthia 
which  was  given  to  Meinhard  of  Tyrol,  whose  daughternouse  of 
was  married  to  Albert.  This  settlement  was  of  thr¥^^^,Jj^\';|^ 
greatest  importance ;  from  this  date  Austria  has  remained  A  Austria 
the  hereditary  possession  of  the  House  of  Habsburg  and 
its  chief  source  of  strength.  The  foundation  was  laid  on 
which  the  later  fortunes  of  that  great  family  were  to  be 
erected. 

Eudolf  had  done  much  to  strengthen  his  family  and 
something  to  consoHdate  the  central  power,  but  not  so 


12  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

much  as  he  wished.  In  vain  he  endeavoured  to  win 
over  the  Princes  by  marriage  alliances  and  the  people 
by  suppression  of  private  war.  The  nobles  remained 
obstinate,  the  towns  objected  to  his  Imperial  taxation, 
and  the  organisation  of  justice  and  government  was  still 
defective.  Above  all,  he  was  unable  to  effect  the  great- 
est wish  of  his  life,  the  establishment  of  an  hereditary 
monarchy.  The  Electors  feared  the  growing  strength 
of  the  Habsburgs  and  refused  to  choose  his  son  Albert 
as  successor.  When  the  Emperor  ended  his  toilsome 
career  in  1292,  Adolf  of  Nassau,  a  poor  and  insignifi- 
cant Count,  was  crowned  at  Aachen. 
Adolf  of  Adolf's  rule  was  short.  His  unexpected  activity  and 
1292-1298  determined  attempt  to  strengthen  his  position,  speedily 
raised  up  enemies  against  him  and  gave  a  party  to  the 
disappointed  Albert  of  Austria.  Germany  was  divided 
into  two  camps,  and  the  war  which  broke  out  was  ended 
by  the  Battle  of  Goellheim.  The  death  of  Adolf,  who 
was  killed,  some  think,  by  Albert  himself,  gave  victory 
to  the  latter.  The  Electors  could  no  longer  refuse  him 
their  votes  and  he  was  proclaimed  Emperor  as  Albert  I. 
The  new  Sovereign  was  not  prepossessing  in  appear- 
ance. Boniface  VIII.,  when  consulted  as  to  the  election, 
had  objected  to  his  uncouth  and  rustic  mien.  He  was 
blind  of  one  eye,  rude  and  harsh  of  face,  strong  but  un- 
gainly in  figure,  and  his  indomitable  energy  was  tempered 
by  no  gentleness  and  few  scruples.  His  character  has 
doubtless  suffered  by  the  legends  concerning  his  rule  in 
Swabia,  where  he  has  been  handed  down  to  tradition 
as  the  great  persecutor  of  the  mountaineers  in  the  dis- 
trict later  to  become  Switzerland  (see  chapter  v.). 
But  though  there  may  be  no  grounds  for  the  accusations 
of  heartless  cruelty  and  oppression,  he  was  a  stern  fierce 


GERMANY  AND  THE  EMPIRE,  1273-1378  13 

man,  not  easy  to  check  when  the  interests  of  his  family 
were  at  stake. 

Albert's  policy  was  a  continuation  of  that  of  his  father.  poUcy  nke 
He  left  Italy  entirely  out  of  account,  made  peace  with  ^'^^*Jjf 
PhiHp  of  France,  and   turned  his  whole   attention  to 
Germany.     Here  his  plan  was  to  support  the  towns 
against  the  nobles,  and  keep  a  firm  hand  over  the  most 
powerful  of  the  Princes. 

His  chief  danger  lay  on  the  side  of  Bohemia,  whose 
sovereign,  Wenzel  II.,  had  been  elected  King  of  Poland 
in  1300,  and  in  the  following  year  i was  also  offered  the 
Crown  of  Hungary.     Albert  was  furious,  but  was  saved 
from  violent  opposition  by  the  unexpected  death  of  King 
Wenzel  and  his  only  son,  the  last  male  descendants  of 
Ottokar.    Thus  ended  the  Bohemian  family  of  the  Premy- 
slides.     The  Crown  of  Bohemia  was  elective,  and  by  aRii,^oifof 
mixture  of  threats  and  bribery,  Albert  secured  the  choice  ^f^J^g^^Jj''^'' 
of   his  own   son   Eudolf,    and   hoped  thereby  to  have  s*^^^''™''' 
secured   for   the    Habsburgs   another   territory   of  the 
greatest  value.     King  Eudolf,  however,  failed  to  abate 
the  hostility  felt  by  the  Bohemians  for  the  Habsburg  line, 
and  on  his  sudden  death  in  1307   the  Electors,  despite 
their  promises,  refused  his  brother  Frederick  the  Fair 
and  chose  instead  Henry  of  Carinthia,  a  brother-in-law 
of  King  Wenzel.     The  indignant  Albert  made  prepara- 
tions for  an  expedition  against  the  Bohemians,  but  this 
was  suddenly  hindered  by  his  own  assassination.     The 
murder   was   the   work   of   one   of   his   own  nephews,  Murder  of 
cheated  as  he  believed  out  of  his  rightful  possessions  by  ^is  ne-  ^ 
the  close-fisted  Albert,  and  encouraged  to  the  deed  by  p^^'^'  ^^^^ 
many  discontented  nobles, who  hated  their  ambitious  ruler. 

Albert's  sudden  death  again  made  a  break  in  the  line 
of  Habsburg  Emperors.     A  disputed  election  followed. 


14  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

The  French  King,  whose  influence  had  been  much  in- 
creased by  the  late  Emperor's  friendship,  put  forward 
his  own  brother  Charles  of  Valois  as  a  rival  to  Albert's 
heir  Frederick  of  Austria.  In  the  end,  however,  the 
Electors  were  faithful  to  the  almost  universal  custom  of 
choosing  a  German,  and  voted  for  Henry  of  Luxemburg, 
brother  of  the  Archbishop  of  Treves,  who  naturally 
gave  him  his  support. 
Heiiry  Henry  VII.  was  about  forty  years  of  age,  a  man  well 

ms'  ^^^^'  skilled  in  arms,  of  middle  height,  with  fair  hair  and  a 
fresh-coloured  face ;  he  was  also  well-educated  and  could 
speak  French,  German  and  Latin.  With  the  new 
monarch  quite  a  new  turn  was  given  to  Imperial  policy. 
Italian  Henry  looked  back  to  the  glories  of  the  Hohenstaufen. 
policy  jjg  determined  to  revive  their  claims  of  universal  do- 
minion and  above  all  their  headship  of  the  GhibeUine 
party  in  Italy.  Thus  his  reign  belongs  rather  to  the 
history  of  Italy  than  to  that  of  Germany,  and  can  be 
kept  principally  for  the  next  chapter  (see  chapter  ii.). 
One  great  acquisition,  however,  he  did  make  in  Ger- 
many, not  for  himself  but  for  his  son. 

Bohemia  was  very  far  from  happy  under  King  Henry 
of  Carinthia.     He  was  idle  and  inefficient  and  did  no- 
thing to  quell  the  disorders  of  the  country,  which  was  in 
open  rebellion  against  him.     Certain  of  the  Bohemians 
turned  in  their  need  to  the  new  Emperor  and  proposed  to 
bestow  the  Kingdom  on  his  young  son  John,  on  condition 
that  he  should  marry  Elizabeth  a  daughter  of  Wenzel  II. 
John  of      ^^^  ^tie  last  survivor  of  the  Premyslides  family.    This  ar- 
Luxem-      rangement  was  accomplished  and  John  of  Luxemburg  be- 
chosen       came  King  of  Bohemia.     This  done,  Henry  set  off  with- 
Bohemia,    out  waste  of  time,  to  secure  for  himself  the  iron  crown 
^^^^  of  Lombardy  and  the  golden  crown  of  Kome. 


GERMANY  AND  THE  EMPIRE,  1273-1378  15 

Henry's  Italian  expedition    left  neglected   Germany  Death  of 
a   prey  to  rival   factions,  and    sad  confusion  prevailed  vii^sis 
when  his  death  at  Siena  in  1313  rendered  a  new  choice 
inevitable. 

The  election  which  followed  the  death  of  Henry  VII.  difficulties 
was  one  of  peculiar  difficulty.  The  rights  of  the  seven 
Electors  were  more  or  less  established,  but  no  provision 
had  been  made  for  the  splitting  of  families  and  territories 
into  two  parts.  Two  branches  of  the  Wittelsbach  stock 
ruled  in  Bavaria,  there  were  two  Margraves  of  Branden- 
burg, and  Henry  of  Carinthia  still  laid  claim  to  the 
Bohemian  throne  occupied  in  reality  by  John  of  Luxem- 
burg. There  were  rival  candidates  also  representing 
the  three  leading  houses  of  the  time.  John  of  Bohemia, 
the  late  Bliiperor's  son,  was  eventually  rejected  as  too 
young';  but  that  still  left  in  the  field  Albert's  son, 
Frederick  the  Handsome  of  Austria  ;  and  Lewis  Duke 
of  Upper  Bavaria,  a  warrior  of  great  repute.  Delay  of  Lewis  of 
more  than  a  year  was  caused  by  these  complications,  and  and^^'* 
when  the  election  was  at   last  made,  the  votes   were  ^J®.^®"'^!^ 

'  _  _  of  Austria 

divided  between  Lewis  and  Frederick,  five  being  given  ^oth 

cllOSGll 

to  the  former  and  two  to  the  latter. 

Neither  candidate  intended  to  give  way,  and  both 
raced  to  Aachen  to  secure  coronation  at  the  traditional 
spot.  Here  again  the  honours  were  divided.  Frederick 
won  the  race,  but  the  town  would  not  admit  him,  and 
he  had  to  be  content  with  a  ceremony  at  Bonn,  per- 
formed, however,  by  the  Archbishop  of  Cologne  to  whom 
especially  belonged  the  right  of  consecration.  Lewis, 
on  the  other  hand,  was  admitted  and  crowned  in  Aachen 
by 'the  Archbishop  of  Mayence.  Civil  war  followed  and 
was  waged  for  eight  years  with  varying  fortunes.  The 
Austrians,  Frederick  and  his  brother  Leopold,  were  also 


16  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

hampered  by  struggles  in  their  Swabian  lands,  where 
the  mountaineers  were  fighting  for  independence  against 
Habsburg  rule.  At  last  the  decisive  blow  was  struck  at 
Miihldorf.  Lewis  the  Bavarian  had  the  support  of  the 
young  John  of  Bohemia,  who  is  thought  by  some  to  de- 
serve the  chief  credit  of  the  victory.  The  towns  also 
were  principally  on  his  side  and  foot  soldiers  played  a 
prominent  part  in  the  fight,  a  sign  of  the  gradual  change 
which  was  coming  in  the  art  of  war.  Frederick  the 
Handsome  commanded  in  person  on  the  opposite  side, 
and  fought  with  distinguished  valour,  though  he  was  over- 
powered in  the  end  and  taken  captive.  The  decisive  turn 
was  given  to  the  struggle  by  the  arrival  of  a  fresh  troop, 
which  the  Austrians  welcomed  as  an  expected  re-inforce- 
ment  under  the  young  Duke  Leopold,  but  which  proved 
to  be  an  addition  to  the  enemy's  forces.  Lewis  remained 
master  of  the  field,  and  Frederick  was  sent  as  a  prisoner 
to  the  Castle  of  Traussitz,  not  far  from  Nuremburg. 
Here  he  is  said  to  have  amused  himself  by  carving  sticks, 
and  up  to  the  present  day  supposed  specimens  of  his  work 
were  still  being  sold  to  tourists  in  the  neighbourhood. 
An  old  warrior  called  Schweppermann  made  himself  a 
name  by  brave  service  on  the  victorious  side,  and  the 
Emperor's  words,  when  food  was  served  frugally  after  the 
battle,  have  passed  into  a  proverb.  "  Jedern  Mann  ein 
Ei,  dem  frommen  Schweppermann  zwei  (An  egg  for 
every  man,  but  two  for  the  honest  Schweppermann)." 

Shortly  after  this  victory,  another  stroke  of  good  for- 
tune helped  to  extend  the  Wittelsbach  power.  In  1322 
Brandenburg  fell  vacant  by  the  death  of  the  last  repre- 
bacii  House  sentative  of  the  Ascanian  family,  and  was  transferred 
by  the  Emperor  to  his  own  sou  Lewis.  This  acquisi- 
tion, it  is  true,  cost  the  friendship  of  John  of  Bohemia, 


GER])^ANY  AND  THE  EMPIRE,  1273-1378  17 

who  had  hopes  of  his  own  in  that  direction,  but  danger 
from  his  estrangement  was  not  yet  obvious. 

If  Lewis  hoped  for  peace  and  tranquiUity,  now  that 
his  claims  were  secured  in  Germany,  he  was  very  much 
mistaken.  His  next  enemy  was  even  more  serious  than 
the  Austrian  Duke,  being  none  other  than  the  Pope 
himself.  The  Papacy  at  this  time  was  closely  allied 
with  France,  some  thought  little  more  than  her  tool. 
In  1305  the  Archbishop  of  Bordeaux  had  been  chosen  Papacy  at 
Pope,  chiefly  by  the  influence  of  Philip  IV.  ;  and  from  ^^^§"^0° 
his  time  the  Papal  Court  had  been  established  at  Avig- 
non ;  a  place  which,  though  not  actually  French  territory, 
was  perilously  near  the  lands  of  France.  Philip  must 
undoubtedly  have  proposed  this  change  of  residence, 
as  a  means  of  securing  his  own  control  over  the  Quarrel 
head  of  the  Church.  In  1323  John  XXII.,  the  PopeLewj^and 
at  the  time,  declared  that  to  him  belonged  the  right  of  ^^^_ 
sanctioning  an  election,  that  Lewis  therefore  had  taken 
his  title  of  King  illegally  and  that  all  his  decrees 
so  far  were  null  and  void.  Going  further  still,  he  pro- 
nounced sentence  of  excommunication  on  the  unsub- 
missive Bavarian,  and  expecting  to  find  ready  support 
from  Bohemian  and  Austrian  rivals  of  the  Emperor, 
proposed  a  new  candidate  in  the  shape  of  Charles  IV. 
of  France.  But  he  did  not  reckon  on  the  growing 
national  feeling  in  Germany.  A  wave  of  indignation 
swept  through  the  country  and  Lewis  turned  the  tables 
on  his  adversary  by  declaring  the  Pope  himself  deposed, 
on  the  charge  of  interference  in  Imperial  Italy,  and  for 
holding  heretical  doctrines.  This  quarrel  was  of  rather 
a  different  character  from  any  previous  dispute,  it '  was 
complicated  by  the  Pope's  relations  to  France,  and  the 
consequent  international  questions  which  arose  ;  and  it 
2 


18  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

was  distinguished  by  the  national  feeling  displaj'ed  in 
Gemiany,  where  Lewis  was  supported  warmly  by  the 
Church,  the  towns,  and  the  Franciscan  Order. 
Lewis  iu  Encouraged  by  the  attitude  of  his  country,  Lewis 
Italy  entered  on  an  Italian  expedition,  which  opened  very 
favourably.  Despite  the  absence  and  opposition  of  the 
Pope,  the  Emperor  was  crowned  at  Rome.  Two  ex- 
communicated Bishops  anointed  him  and  the  crown 
was  placed  on  his  head  by  lay  officials  of  the  city ;  a 
ceremony  which  struck  even  those  who  took  part  in  it 
as  strange  and  doubtful.  As  a  practical  demonstration 
of  his  full  Imperial  power,  Lewis  set  up  a  Pope  of  his 
own  with  the  name  of  Nicholas  V.,  and  together  they 
paraded  the  streets  of  the  capital  in  triumph.  The 
triumph  was  very  short-lived.  Lewis's  partisans  were 
of  no  real  stability,  they  dropped  away  from  him  ;  towns 
which  had  received  him  gladly  closed  their  gates  upon 
him  on  his  return  journey  ;  the  terrified  anti-Pope  fled 
to  John  XXII.,  humbly  craved  for  pardon  and  was  im- 
prisoned. The  whole  Imperial  position  in  Italy  was 
rotten  to  the  core.  Lewis  never  freed  himself  from 
Papal  excommunication,  though  he  made  repeated  efforts 
and  hoped  much  from  the  more  compliant  successors  of 
John  XXII. ;  but  they  had  France  at  their  backs,  and 
France  was  well-content  to  see  Pope  and  Emperor  at 
strife.  The  struggle  had,  however,  important  results  in 
Germany.  It  led  to  a  declaration  of  independence, 
which  showed  the  marked  decline  in  Papal  authority. 
At  Eense  the  Electors  proclaimed  that  "  since  the  Em- 
pire depends  on  God  alone,  he  who  is  elected  by  the 
majority  of  votes  can  take  the  title  of  King  and  exercise 
all  sovereign  rights,  without  need  of  the  consent  or  con- 
firmation of  the  Pope  ".     The  German  character  of  the 


GERMANY  AND  THE  EMPIRE,  1273-1378  19 

Empire  was  little  by  little  superseding  the  sacred  and 
international  position  which  had  been  the  ideal  of  the 
Middle  Ages. 

The  relations  of  Lewis  the  Bavarian  with  Edward  Reiatious 

between 

III.  were  mdu'ectly  part  of  the  Papal  disputes,  for  the  Lewis  and 
Emperor  was  glad  to  support  the  rival  of  the  Pope's  ally  m^^^ 
Phihp  VI.  The  Enghsh  King  in  1338  made  a  visit  to 
Germany  and  was  entertained  with  great  splendour  and 
magnificence  by  Lewis.  The  two  Kings  were  already 
bound  to  each  other  b}'  marriage  ties,  for  the  Emperor 
had  taken  as  his  second  wife  Margaret  of  Holland  and 
Hainault,  a  sister  of  our  own  Queen  Philippa.  The 
chief  result  of  all  this  parade  was  the  rather  empty 
honour  bestowed  on  Edward  of  the  office  of  Imperial 
Vicar  or  representative  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Ehine, 
and  this  was  almost  all  that  England  obtained  from  her 
high-sounding  alliance  with  the  Emperor. 

Lewis  was  far  too  busy  with  his  own  affairs  to  give 
active  support  to  the  English  claims  in  France.  During 
almost  the  whole  of  his  reign  he  was  at  enmity  with  his 
original  ally  John  of  Bohemia  ;  he  had  troubles  in  Lower 
Bavaria,  Austrian  relations  were  not  cordial,  his  un- 
stable and  yet  ambitious  character  was  not  likely  to  se- 
cure him  firm  friends  and  allies.  His  last  efforts  at 
family  acquisitions  brought  him  into  new  troubles. 
Henry  of  Carinthia  and  Tyrol  had  a  daughter  and 
heiress  with  the  very  unattractive  name  of  Margaret 
Maultasch  or  "  Poke-mouth  ".  Whatever  her  looks  may  Succession 
have  been,  her  possessions  were  of  such  undoubted'"  ^'° 
value  that  she  had  no  lack  of  suitors,  and  after  an  un- 
happy marriage  with  the  second  son  of  John  of  Bohemia, 
which  was  ended  by  divorce,  she  was  secured  by  Lewis 
for  his  son  the  Margrave  of  Brandenburg.     A  dispensa- 


20  •  THE  EXD  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

tion  was  required  for  the  new  marriage,  and  this  Lewis 
proclaimed   on  his  own  Imperial    authority,  an  action 
which  stirred  up  anew  the  Papal  ire,  whilst  there  was 
considerable  outcry  in  Germany  itself,  where  the  Em- 
peror was   daily  becoming  more  and  more  unpopular. 
So  strong  was  this  feeling,  that  Pope  Clement  VI.  had 
Election  of  little  difficulty  in  inducing  five  of  the  Electors  to  choose 
IV.,  1346    a  new  King  of  the  Romans,  in  the  person  of  Charles  c^ 
Bohemia,  son  of  King  John,  who  lost   his  life  in  the 
same  year  at  the  battle  of  Cre9y.     Lewis  was  engaged 
in  raising  men  and   money  to  meet   this  new  danger, 
Death  of     wheii  he  was  struck  down  by  sudden  death  in  the  midst 
\^^j^'       of  a  bear-hunt  near  Munich,  and  left  the  field  clear  for 

the  Luxemburg  candidate. 
Character  Lewis  the  Bavarian  had  passed  a  long  and  troubled 
of  Lewis'^^  reign.  He  had  been  untiringly  active,  and  his  courage 
and  good-humour  had  won  him  many  friends  in  early 
life  ;  but  he  had  little  real  force  of  character  or  stability, 
and  his  poHcy  was  almost  wholly  concerned  with  family 
aggrandisement,  so  that  one  after  another  his  supporters 
lost  patience  and  their  belief  in  him  turned  to  contempt 
and  suspicion.  He  had  failed  to  establish  his  power  in 
Italy,  or  to  secure  his  rule  in  Germany ;  but  he  left  the 
Wittelsbach  family  in  a  very  strong  territorial  position, 
Brandenburg,  Bavaria,  the  Palatinate,  Tyrol,  Hainault 
and  Holland  were  all  in  the  hands  of  members  of  that 
house. 
Charles  The  character  and  career  of  Charles  IV.  of  Luxem- 

1375  ^^^'"burg  has  given  rise  to  considerable  disagreement.  Ger- 
man historians  as  a  rule  have  spoken  of  him  slightingly. 
Amongst  Enghsh  writers  Bryce  says  severely  that 
he  "legalised  anarchy  and  called  it  a  constitution  "; 
and  Carlyle  is  palpably  unjust  in  calling  him  "  an  un- 


GERMANY  AND  THE  EMPIRE,  1273-1378  21 

esteemed  creature,  who  strove  to  make  his  time  peace- 
able in  the  world  by  giving  from  the  Holy  Roman  Empire 
with  both  hands  to  every  bull-beggar  or  ready-payer 
who  applied  ".  On  the  other  hand  Bohemian  writers 
can  scarcely  praise  him  enough,  and  they  thank  him  for 
all  that  is  best  in  their  country's  history,  for,  writes  one, 
"  he  broke  down  the  oppressive  power  of  the  overmighty 
feudal  lord,  restored  quiet  and  security  within  and  with- 
out, supported  justice  and  good-government,  increased 
the  income  of  the  state  and  encouraged  industry,  so  that 
in  both  mountain  and  valley  skill  and  knowledge  spread 
amongst  the  people,  religion  and  morality  prevailed 
throughout  the  land".  Perhaps  Maximilian  I.  was 
partly  right  in  calling  him  "  The  Father  of  Bohemia  but 
the  step-father  of  the  Empire  ".  His  best  work  was  done 
without  doubt  in  his  own  country,  but  his  Imperial  rule 
was  not  so  despicable  after  all,  and  it  was  not  altogether 
his  fault  that  the  power  of  the  German  King  became  less 
and  less  able  to  compete  with  the  authority  and  privileges 
of  the  Electoral  Princes. 

Charles's  personal  appearance  was  not  attractive.     He  Personal 

^  '-  ^  .  appearance 

was  small,  his  back  was  slightly  bent,  and  his  head  hung  and  char- 
forwards  ;  his  face  was  pale  with  very  prominent  cheek-  charies  iv. 
bones,  and  his  hair  and  beard  were  thick  and  black.    He 
always  dressed  very  simply  and  his  tunic  was  kilted  to 
the  knee,  never  worn  long  and  flowing.     He  was  neither 
a  great  warrior  nor  an  impressive  figure,  but  he  was  a 
clear-headed   prudent  man,    a  hard-worker  and  a  far- 
sighted  statesman ;  he  preferred  diplomacy  to  force  and 
the  substance  of  power  to  the  show  and  pomp  of  majesty. 
His  policy  was  chiefly  concerned  with  introducing  order  Policy 
and  stability  into  the  government  of  the  Empire,  in  ad- 
vancing the  welfare  of  the  country,  especially  of  Bohemia, 


22  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

and  in  aggrandising  the  House  of  Luxemburg,  which  he 
hoped  to  leave  in  permanent  possession  of  the  Imperial 
dignity,  based  on  a  strong  territorial  position  of  its  own. 
Rivals  for  Charles  had  many  difficulties  with  which  to  contend, 
e  nipire  jjjg  election  had  not  been  unanimous  and  was  not  un- 
disputed. There  were  other  applicants  for  the  office. 
Edward  III.  was  at  one  time  considered ;  Albert  of 
Austria  put  forward  claims ;  Gunther  of  Schwarzburg, 
supported  by  the  Bavarian  family,  was  actually  elected. 
The  Emperor,  however,  knew  how  to  win  over  his 
enemies,  or  to  take  advantage  of  any  chances  in  his 
favour.  He  hampered  the  House  of  Wittelsbach  by 
encouraging  a  sham  claimant  to  their  possessions  in 
Brandenburg,  and  the  Elector  Palatine,  head  of  the 
family,  was  won  over  by  the  marriage  of  his  daughter  to 
Charles  himself ;  whilst  his  own  daughter  was  wedded 
to  a  son  of  the  Austrian  Duke  to  conciliate  his  rivals  in 
that  direction.  The  Black  Death,  also,  had  diverted  the 
country  generally  from  political  disputes ;  the  Imperial 
Cities,  sighing  for  order  and  quiet,  were  easily  conciH- 
ated  by  grants  of  privileges,  and  finally  the  convenient 
death  of  Gunther  in  1349  left  Charles  undisputed  master 
Charles i\'.  of  the  situation.  His  next  step  was  a  journey  to  Eome 
Rome^fsM^^^'  the  Imperial  crown.  There  was  no  resemblance 
between  Charles's  attitude  towards  Italy  and  that  of  his 
father  Henry  VII.  He  went  for  the  coronation  alone 
and  merely  stayed  in  Rome  the  one  day  necessary  for 
this  ceremony  ;  thus  deliberately  renouncing  any  claims 
to  Imperial  rule  in  the  Peninsula,  and  arousing  consider- 
able contempt  in  the  Italian  towns  of  the  north,  which 
would  readily  have  welcomed  a  new  head  of  the  GhibeL- 
line  party. 

His  return  gave  him  the  opportvuiity  for  that  part  of 


GERMANY  AND  THE  EMPIRE,  1273-1378  23 

his  work  which  is  best  known,  the  formation  of  a  rule 
for  future  Imperial  elections,  which  was  drawn  up  and 
published  in  the  famous  document  known  as  the  Golden  Golden 
Bull.  Charles,  it  must  be  remembered,  was  not  attempt-  "  ' 
ing  any  great  change.  The  practice  of  election  and  all 
its  consequent  evils  were  thoroughly  established  by  this 
time,  but  there  were  constant  disputes  about  the  actual 
claim  to  Electoral  votes.  Did  they  belong  to  the  great 
fiefs  themselves,  or  to  the  great  famihes  which  held  those 
fiefs,  or  to  the  Imperial  offices  which  members  of  those 
families  generally  filled  ?  What  was  to  happen  in  case  of 
the  subdivision  of  fiefs,  the  splitting  up  of  families,  the 
abeyance  of  offices  ?  All  these  disputed  points  were  made 
clear  by  the  Golden  Bull.  Elections  were  in  future  to  be 
held  at  Frankfort,  and  a  majority  of  votes  alone  was  to 
be  necessary.  Electoral  powers  were  to  be  exercised  by 
the  three  Archbishops,  of  Cologne,  Mayence  and  Treves  ; 
and  by  four  lay  Princes — the  King  of  Bohemia,  Imperial 
cup-bearer ;  the  Count-Palatine,  Grand  Seneschal ;  the 
Duke  of  Saxony,  Grand  Marshal ;  and  the  Margrave  of 
Brandenburg,  Grand  Chamberlain.  Not  one  word  was 
said  in  this  important  document  either  of  Papal  Sanction 
or  Papal  confirmation,  and  thus  tacit  recognition  was 
made  of  the  German  character  of  the  Empire  and  its  in- 
dependence from  the  control  of  the  Head  of  the  Church. 
In  a  sense  the  Golden  Bull  did  "  legaHse  anarchy  "  as 
Bryce  puts  it.  It  legalised  Electoral  control  and  interfer- 
ence ;  but  at  least  it  put  an  end  to  some  of  the  worst  diffi- 
culties which  had  beset  previous  elections. 

Charles  had  plenty  of  scope  for  his  diplomatic  talents. 
He  acquired  what  territory  he  could  for  his  family,  but 
when  friendship  was  more  important  than  extension  of 
boundaries,  he  knew    how  to  give   way  with  a  good 


24  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

grace.     This  was  shown  more  especially  in  the  case  of 
Great        Tyrol,  which  fell  vacant  with  the  death  of  the  only  son 
acquis^*    of  Margaret  Maultasch,  and  which  he  confirmed  in  the 
tions         hands  of  the  Austrian  Habsburgs.     For  his  own  family 
he  gained  by  purchase  and  diplomacy  the  Margravate 
of  Brandenburg,  which  brought  with  it  a  second  electo- 
ral vote — the  principal  aim  of  his  ambitions.     Silesia, 
Moravia,  and  Bohemia  were  already  his.     Luxemburg 
and  Limburg  were  in  the  hands  of  a  brother,  with  the 
promise  of  reversion  to   Bohemia.     Marriage  alliances 
gave  hopes  of  future  succession  in  Holland,  Hungary 
and  Poland.     Germany  was  almost  surrounded  by  here- 
ditary estates  of  the  Luxemburg  family. 

Charles  won  a  final  and  very  important  triumph  in 
Election  of  the  election  and  coronation,  during  his  lifetime,  of  his 
1376    '     son  Wenzel ;  so  that  he  could  die  with  the  assurance  of 
having  done  what  Habsburg  and  Wittelsbach  had  so  far 
failed  to  effect,  in  laying  the  apparent  foundation  of  an 
hereditary  claim  to  the  Imperial  throne.    His  last  advice 
to  his  son  and  successor  was  very  characteristic  :  "Love 
Death  of     God  and  thy  friends,  be  peaceful ;  if  thou  canst  gain 
Charles  IV.  ^j^yj.]^^j^g  -^j^jj  gentleness,  avoid  war  about  it.     Show 
consideration  and  honour  for  others.     Have  the  Pope, 
Priests  and  Germans  as  friends  ;  thus  wilt  thou  live  and 
die  in  peace." 
Results  of       Charles  had  done  much  even  though  he  had  not  been 
leign         uniformly  successful.     He   had  failed  to  command  re- 
spect in  Itah\    He  had  allowed  the  foundation  of  a  very 
strong  estate  between  himself  and  France,  for  Burgundy 
in  the  hands  of  the  successors  of  Philip  the  Bold  was  to 
be  a  danger  to  future  Emperors  as  well  as  to  future 
Kings.    He  had  been  forced  to  acknowledge  the  Swabian 
league  of  Towns,  although  so  independent  a  union  was 


THE  EMPIRE  in  1376 


lES^ 


.  Possessions  of  Habsburg  House       [jZZI    Possessions  of  Wittelsbach^ouse  ^3 
"        "  Luxemburg     "  QHH  Boundary  of  the  Empire  ——• 


26  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

really  contrary  to  the  Golden  Bull.  He  had  helped  to 
bring  about  the  return  of  the  Avignon  Popes  to  Koine, 
and  lived  just  long  enough  to  see  how  this  resulted  in  the 
great  schism  of  the  Papacy,  Above  all  he  weakened  the 
territorial  position,  which  he  had  built  up  with  so  much 
care,  by  following  the  general  custom  of  division  amongst 
his  sons.  Nevertheless  he  left  behind  him  a  Luxemburg 
Emperor  and  a  formidable  array  of  Luxemburg  estates. 
In  Bohemia  he  had  founded  the  University  of  Prague, 
reformed  the  coinage,  improved  means  of  communica- 
tion, encouraged  trade  and  made  himself  beloved.  His 
name  is  still  remembered  in  that  of  many  a  town,  many 
a  bridge,  many  a  public  building.  Karlstadt,  Karlsbad, 
Karlstein  and  many  other  places  remind  the  traveller  of 
one  of  the  most  important  of  the  Bohemian  Kings. 

ADDITIONAL  BOOKS  ^ 

Bryce  :  Holy  Roman  Empire. 

Milman  :  History  of  Latin  Christianity. 

Alice  Greenwood :  Emjnre  and  the  Papacy  in  the  Middle  Ages. 

Baring-Gould:  Germany  {"■  Story  of  the  Nations  "). 

^  The  additional  books  given  at  the  end  of  each  chapter  are 
intended  for  the  use  of  students.  For  the  more  advanced  biblio- 
graphy, see  page  xxi. 


CHAPTEE  II 

ITALY,  1273-1313 

THE  history  of  Italy  during  this  period  is  one  of  great  General 
olifLmctjGr 
difficulty,  since  it  is  impossible  to  study  it  as  a  of  Italy 

whole.     The  country  was  split  up  into  separate  states, 

independent  repubhcs  and  subject  towns.     Any  sense 

of  national  unity  was  totally  lacking ;  patriotism,  though 

strong,  was  wholly  local  or  even  municipal. 

Several  causes  had  tended  to  bring  about  this  condition 

of  complete  disunion.     Italian  geography  was  the  original 

and  dominant  reason.     The  long  narrow  shape  of  the 

Peninsula  rendered  communication  difficult  between  the 

extremities.     The  country  was  divided  from  North  to 

South  by  the  chain  of  the  Apennines,  whilst  the  lateral 

spurs  of  these  mountains  split  up  the  two  long  divisions 

into  more  or  less  detached  portions,  and   the  plain  of 

Lombardy  in  the  North  was  very  much  isolated  from 

the  rest.     This  natural  disunion  had  been  strengthened 

by  the  nominal  subjection  of  Italy  to   the  Emperors, 

whose  dominion,  however  shadowy,  had  been  sufficient 

to  prevent  the  rise  of  any  strong  national  power  ;  whilst 

the  influence  of  the  Popes,  who  were  temporal  lords  in 

their  own  estates,  as  well  as  the  heads  of  Christendom, 

produced  much  the  same  effect.     Add  to  this  the  fact 

that  for  years  there  had    been   a  continuous  struggle 

going  on   between    Pope   and    Emperor,    in    which   all 

27 


28  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

Italians  became  more  or  less  involved,  either  as  Guelfs 
supporting  the  Papacy,  or  as  Ghibellines  on  the  Imperial 
side,  and  it  will  be  seen  that  party  feuds  were  one  more 
drop  in  the  cup  of  discord  and  division.  These  party 
enmities  and  party  names  continued  long  after  they  had 
lost  most  of  their  original  significance.  Not  only  were 
Guelf  States  at  war  with  Ghibelline  Provinces,  but  each 
State  was  itself  split  up  into  rival  factions,  whose  chief 
bond  of  union  was  common  hostility  to  one  another. 
Develop-         Advance  in  Ital}^  did  not  take  the  line  of  growth 

mentofthe,  -i  j.-  i-i  ii  •  i_   •  i 

aty  State  towards  nationality,  as  was  the  case  in  countries  such  as 
England  and  France  ;  but  in  the  North,  where  progress 
was  most  rapid,  the  town  tended  more  and  more  to  be- 
come the  unit  of  political  life.  Cities  became  strong 
centres  of  influence  whether  they  were  republics  or 
under  the  control  of  some  dominant  family ;  and  the  large 
cities  gradually  obtained  sway  over  the  smaller  towns 
and  surrounded  themselves  with  subject  communes.  By 
the  fifteenth  century  the  chief  of  these  municipalities 
had  developed  into  regular  City  States :  but  at  the  close 
of  the  thirteenth  century  this  process  was  only  in  the 
making. 

In  1273,  Savoy  which  was  in  our  own  day  to  become  the 
centre  of  Italian  unity,  was  scarcely  part  of  Italy  at  all. 

Savoy  and  Lying  to  the  West  of  the  Alps  and  originally  belonging 

Piedmont  ^.^  ^.j^g  Kingdom  of  Aries,  it  had  split  off  as  an  almost  in- 
dependent Province,  a  fief  of  the  Empire  alone.  Its  rulers 
had  indeed  subsequently  enriched  themselves  by  the  ac- 
quisition of  Piedmont :  but  for  the  present  it  stood  en- 
tirely aloof  from  the  comphcations  and  difficulties  of  the 
Peninsula. 

Milan  Of  the  Lombard  cities,  Milan  had  for  a  long  time  been 

by  far  the  most  prominent.     It  had  been   a  republic 


ft  V  *taLp*Ai"<lMrf'«^  *+***,  'l*^. 


30  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

from  at  least  the  early  twelfth  century,  and  had  begun 
almost  as  soon  to  assert  its  supremacy  over  many  of 
the  surrounding  and  smaller  towns.  Now,  at  the  close 
of  the  thirteenth  century,  the  republican  independence 
of  Milan  was  being  rapidly  lost.  Martino  della  Torre, 
a  Guelf  leader,  had  headed  the  burgesses  against  the 
nobles  and  made  himself  lord  of  the  city  (1209), 
only  in  his  turn  to  succumb  to  the  superior  power  of  Otto 
Visconti  (1277).  But  the  period  of  complete  Visconti 
supremacy  as  Dukes  of  Milan  had  not  yet  come,  and  the 
city  was  weakened  by  a  protracted  struggle  between 
these  two  families  for  some  time  longer. 

Genoa  The   other  chief  powers  in  the   North  were   Genoa 

and  Venice.  The  first  was  important  as  a  commercial 
centre,  and  was  to  become  involved  in  trade  disputes 
with  other  towns,  especially  Pisa  and  Venice  ;  but  other- 
wise she  was  fairly  isolated  from  the  history  of  the  Penin- 
sula, occupied  with  her  own  concerns  and  with  quarrels 
between  her  own  rival  families. 

Venice  Venice,  the  other  great  trading  State,   directed  her 

attention  almost  entirely  towards  the  East.  Here  lay 
her  chief  power  and  her  commercial  and  maritime 
supremacy,  which  was  undisputed  until  the  rise  of  Genoa 
introduced  a  formidable  rival  and  a  constant  source 
of  war  and  quarrel.  The  history  of  Venice  differs  from 
that  of  most  Italian  towns,  partly  owing  to  her  peculiar 
constitution.  A  Doge  of  Venice  had  existed  ever  since 
the  seventh  century ;  he  was  a  Duke  elected  for  hfe,  at 
first  by  the  whole  body  of  the  people  and  in  early  days 
invested  with  almost  supreme  despotic  powder,  though 
this  was  gradually  usurped  by  his  ambitious  colleagues. 
By  1273  the  election  was  in  the  hands  of  forty-one 
councillors  chosen  by  a  complicated  system  of  drawing 


ITALY,  1273-1313  31 

lots  from  amongst  the  whole  body  of  the  Great  Council. 
This  Great  Council  had  superseded  the  Assembly  of  the 
whole  people  when  the  growth  of  population  had  rendered 
such  a  meeting  totally  impossible.  Though  at  first  elec- 
tive and  quite  representative,  it  had  gradually  changed 
into  an  exclusive  hereditary  aristocracy.  From  1319  all 
form  of  election  ceased,  and  it  was  understood  that  every 
son  of  a  member  entered  the  Council  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
five.  The  Doge  was  assisted  by  i  a  Senate  or  Pregadi, 
annually  renewed  by  the  Great  Council ;  but  he  was 
now  really  under  the  complete  control  of  six  Ducal 
councillors,  a  sort  of  Ministerial  Cabinet,  without  whom 
he  could  do  nothing.  From  1310  a  further  Committee 
was  chosen  by  the  Great  Council,  which  though  at  first 
only  intended  for  a  time  of  emergency,  became  a  perma- 
nent body  known  as  the  Council  of  Ten.  This  Council 
formed  a  sort  of  court  of  justice  to  deal  with  exceptional 
cases,  and  was  a  strong  weapon  in  the  hands  of  the 
ruling  aristocracy.  Later  it  added  to  its  judicial  functions 
and  interfered  in  most  affairs  of  State.  Although  the 
constitution  of  Venice  was  thus  very  oligarchical  and 
aristocratic,  in  the  hands,  that  is,  of  a  small  number  of 
the  upper  classes,  it  was  not  in  any  sense  feudal.  It  was 
one  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  city  that  no  distinction 
existed  between  merchants  and  nobles  ;  all  the  chief 
patricians  were  great  traders  and  guildsmen,  not  military 
and  territorial  lords.  The  power  of  Venice  had  gradually 
increased,  by  the  spread  of  commercial  settlements  and 
the  subjection  of  surrounding  lands,  until  the  name 
came  to  include  much  more  than  the  islands  on  the 
Rialto  which  form  the  city  itself.  It  was  not,  however, 
till  the  fifteenth  century  that  Venetian  territory  reached 
its  full  development,  and  that  Venice  became  a  great 


32  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

mainland  power,  participating  in  Italian  complications 
and  even  in  European  politics. 
Tiiscau  Tuscany,  divided  bv  the  Apennines  from  the  Lombard 

Towns  .  .  . " 

plam,  was  split  up  mto  a  number  of  city  states.  Pisa, 
Siena,  Lucca  all  have  interesting  histories,  and  rose  to 
prominence  at  different  times  ;  but  the  fame  of  Florence 
has  dwarfed  the  fame  of  other  Tuscan  towns,  and  gave 
her  for  a  time  supremacy  over  the  whole  district.  The 
Florence  internal  history  of  Florence  had  for  long  been  marked 
by  a  heated  struggle  between  nobles  and  people  for 
power  in  the  government.  The  people  had,  however, 
one  great  source  of  strength  and  obtained  some  train- 
ing in  the  art  of  governing  through  their  craft-guilds, 
societies  of  those  engaged  in  different  crafts  or  in- 
dustries, which  were  well  organised  and  very  prosper- 
ous. In  1282  a  great  victory  was  won  for  the  popular 
side,  by  the  recognition  of  the  Priors  or  leaders  of  the 
crafts  as  the  chief  magistrates  of  Florence  ;  and  by  the 
rule  that  the  nobles  must  enter  a  guild  in  order  to  quahfy 
for  office.  In  1293  a  further  step  was  taken  by  insisting 
that  all  officials  should  actually  practise  at  the  trade  of 
their  guild,  while  the  nobles  were  subjected  to  especially 
severe  rules  in  matters  of  justice.  The  triumph  of  the 
people  over  the  nobles  was  now  complete  ;  but  it  tended 
to  be  an  ohgarchical  triumph  all  the  same,  for  power 
was  largely  monopolised  by  the  wealthy  burgesses. 
Some  amount  of  democratic  or  popular  control  was  how- 
ever maintained,  by  means  of  the  Parlarnento,  a  mass- 
meeting  of  all  the  citizens,  which  had  authority  to  alter 
the  laws  by  an  appointed  Committee  or  Balia.  The 
great  defect  of  this  constitution  was  its  instability,  since 
the  governing  body  was  changed  every  two  months. 
As  some  remedy  for  this,  in  1321,  a  consultative  council 


ITALY,  1273-1313  33 

was  added  of  twelve  Bitonomlni  (good  men),  who  were  to 
hold  office  for  six  months  instead  of  two  ;  and  in  1323  a 
plan  of  choosing  officials  by  lot  was  introduced,  to 
satisfy  the  passion  for  equality  which  prevailed  amongst 
the  Florentines. 

The  government  now  consisted  of  : — 

1.  The  Signory  of  nine  members,  known  as  Priors  of 
the  Arts  (Guilds),  with  the  Gonfalonier  of  Justice  at 
their  head.  Six  chosen  from  the  Major  Arts,  the  more 
important  guilds  of  bankers,  lawyers,  merchants  and 
so  forth,  and  two  from  the  Minor  Arts,  of  less  important 
trades.     These  were  changed  every  two  months. 

2.  Sixteen  Gonfaloniers  of  the  Comjmnies.  These  were 
captains  of  the  old  military  divisions  of  Florence,  and 
were  responsible  for  police  and  war. 

3.  Twelve  Buonomini,  chosen  every  six  months,  to  give 
advice  to  the  Signory.  These  two  latter  bodies  were 
called  the  Colleges. 

4.  The  Council  of  the  People,  consisting  of  300  members 
all  belonging  to  the  Guilds,  headed  by  the  Captain  of  the 
People. 

5.  The  Commune  or  Council  of  the  Podestd,  a  body  of 
250  members,  some  of  whom  could  be  nobles. 

Every  two  years  a  Scrutiny  was  held,  an  election  of  all 
considered  worthy  of  office.  The  names  of  those  who 
gained  a  sufficient  number  of  votes  were  put  into  bags, 
and  then  drawn  out  by  lot  when  officials  were  needed. 

The  chief  glory  of  Florence  was  her  pre-eminence  in 
art  and  literature.  If  Italy  was  the  teacher  of  Europe, 
Florence  was  the  teacher  of  Italy.  Endless  internal 
struggles,  family  feuds  and  fierce  warfare  seem  to  have 
had  little  or  no  power  to  check  the  work  of  writer,  painter 
or  builder :  indeed  the  prevailing  turbulence  appears  to 
3 


34  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

have  acted  as  a  fresh  incentive  to  energy,  or  perhaps 
it  was  the  outward  sign  of  the  fiery  zeal  which  was 
spreading  through  the  people  and  leading  to  such  briUiant 
results  in  the  development  of  a  literary  and  artistic  re- 
naissance. 
states  of  To  the  south-east  of  Tuscany  lay  the  States  of  the 
Church,  consolidated  as  a  principality  for  the  Holy  See 
by  Innocent  III.  and  now  comprising  besides  Kome  and 
the  Campagna,  the  March  of  Ancona  and  loose  claims 
over  Komagna.  The  Emperor  Eudolf  gave  security  to 
the  Popes  for  their  temporal  possessions,  by  renouncing 
all  claims  to  Imperial  Sovereignty  over  them ;  but  such  a 
territorial  position,  though  probably  a  necessity  at  the 
time,  brought  many  difficulties  in  its  train.  It  was  this, 
above  all  else,  which  tended  to  weaken  the  spiritual 
prestige  of  the  Popes  by  involving  them  in  the  secular 
interests  of  a  temporal  dominion. 
Kingdom  jn  the  south  of  the  Peninsula  the  Kingdom  of  Naples 
and  sJcUy  and  Sicily,  united  under  Norman  sway  in  the  twelfth 
century,  was  the  most  extensive  stretch  of  land  under 
one  ruler  which  yet  existed  in  Italy.  The  Hohenstaufen 
Emperors  had  gained  the  crown  by  marriage  and  this 
had  been  one  of  many  causes  of  quarrel  between  them- 
selves and  the  Pope  of  that  day,  who  called  to  his  as- 
sistance Charles  of  Anjou,  brother  of  St.  Louis  of 
France.  Charles  by  a  victory  over  King  Manfred  of 
Sicily,  and  by  the  defeat  and  death  of  Conradin,  last  of 
the  Hohenstaufen,  had  obtained  possession  of  the  King- 
dom in  1268,  and  by  1273  was  the  most  powerful  Prince 
in  Italy,  bidding  fair  to  gain  ascendency  over  the  whole 
Peninsula,  thanks  to  his  own  good  fortune  and  the  sup- 
port of  the  Papacy.  He  was  not  only  King  of  the  Two 
SiciHes,  as  Naples  and  Sicily  together  are  often  called, 


ITALY,  1273-1313  35 

but  also  Imperial  Vicar  and  Senator  of  Kome,  whilst 
several  towns  of  the  North  acknowledged  him  as  lord. 

In  the  period  covered  by  this  chapter,  a  few  main  General 
lines  of  policy  and  progress  give  some  sort  of  connection  of  Italian 
to  the  whole.     The  ambitions  and  eventual  failure  of^""*"^'^ 
Charles  of  Anjou  ;  the  continuation  of  Papal  pretensions 
whilst  the  actual  power  of  the  Popes  is  gradually  being 
lost ;   the  attitude  of  the   Emperors   towards  their  old 
dominions,  and  the  feeling  of  Italy  itself  in  regard  to  the 
Imperial  claims  affect  to  some  extent  all  parts  of  the 
country :  while  in  the  north  the  rivalry  between  the 
city  states  and  the  gradual  advance  of  Milan,  Florence 
and  Venice  are  going  on  continuously. 

In  1273  an  excellent  Pope  sat  on  the  throne  of  St.  The  Popes 
Peter.     Gregory  X.  was  above  all  else  an  advocate  of  Gregory 

X.   1271- 

peace  :  his  highest  wish  was  harmony  throughout  1276 
Christendom,  which  might  lead  to  a  united  effort  of 
Europe  for  the  recovery  of  the  Holy  Land.  To  prepare 
the  way  for  a  successful  crusade  was  the  leading  motive 
of  his  life.  Something  Gregory  was  able  to  accomplish 
as  the  peacemaker  of  Europe.  He  negotiated  between 
the  warring  cities  of  Venice,  Genoa  and  Bologna ;  he 
pacified  for  a  time  the  struggle  between  Guelfs  and 
Ghibellines,  declaring  the  doctrine  strange  in  those  days 
of  intolerance :  "  they  are  Ghibellines  it  is  true  but  they 
are  citizens,  men,  Christians  ". 

At  the  Council  of  Lyons  he  succeeded,  if  only  for  aConnciiof 
time,  in  uniting  the  Greek  and  Latin  Churches,  and  in  1274 
inducing  the  Greek  Emperor  of  Constantinople  to  ac- 
knowledge papal  supremacy.  At  this  same  council  he 
recognised  the  new  Emperor  Eudolf  of  Habsburg,  who 
renounced  his  Italian  pretensions  and  promised  to  head 
the  forthcoming  crusade.     At  the  same  time  rules  were 


36  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

drawn  up  for  future  Papal  Elections,  which  were  to  be 
solely  in  the  hands  of  the  Cardinals  in  private  conclave. 
Thus  it  was  hoped  to  secure  a  speedy  choice   and   to 
avoid  the  scandals  which  so  often  accompanied  the  pro- 
ceedings.    Peace  and  concord  seemed   secure  at   last, 
Death  of     when  Gregory's  sudden  death  broke  up  the  European 
xl^_^i27G     confederation,  which  he  had  just  effected  with  so  much 
labour,  and  left  Christendom  to  fall  back  into  a  state 
of  feud   worse   even   than   before.      The  crusade   was 
abandoned,  and  the  Popes  who  followed  were  little  more 
than  Italian  Princes,  themselves  concerned  far  more  with 
temporal  concerns  and  family  quarrels,  than  with  the 
Innocent    Welfare  of  the  Church  at  large.     Three  Popes  followed 
Hadrian     oue   another  in  rapid  succession.     The  third  of  these, 
y.  1276     joi-in  XXI.,  a  scholar  and  a  mathematician,  had  no  love 

John  ' 

XXI.,  1276 for  monks  or  friars  and  was  regarded  with  great  sus- 
picion by  an  age  which  looked  on  learning  as  a  danger- 
ous gift.     ^Vhen  he  was  killed  by  the  falling  of  a  roof 
in  his  own   palace,  it  was  held  to  be  a  direct  judg- 
ment, and  visions  were  recounted  in  which  the  Evil  One 
himself  had    been   seen    hewing    down   the   supports. 
Next  came  a  series  of  Popes  representing  the  leading 
families  which  were  struggling  for  power  in  Rome  itself. 
nL^fl77.  Nicholas  III.  belonged  to   the  great  house   of   Orsini. 
Martiniv   "^^^  succcssor,  Martin  IV.,  was  elected  by  the  influence 
1280-85    '  of  Charles  of  Anjou,  and  merely  ruled  as  his  creature. 
Honorius    Houorius  IV.  was  a  member  of  the  Roman  family  of 
87''       '  Savelh,  and  was  exalted  at  the  expense  of  the  Orsini. 
This  Pope,  who  was  such  a  martyr  to  gout  that  he  could 
not  rise  or  sit  or  open  and  shut  his  hands  unaided,  in- 
vented some  mechanical  contrivance,  which  turned  him 
and  moved  him  and  enabled  him  to  celebrate  Mass  be- 
fore the  people.     The  next  Pope,  Nicholas  IV.,  repre- 


ITALY,  1273-1313  37 

sented  the  third  great  family  in  Eome,  the  Colonna,  who  Nicholas 

•    •  TV     1288 

now  had  their  turn  of  pubhc  honours  and  dignities  ;  and  92'' 
party  feuds  rose  higher  than  ever  in  the  city. 

So  disastrous  were  these  disputes  that  on  the  death  of 
Nicholas  two  years  passed  before  a  successor  was  fixed 
upon,  and  then  a  wholly  new  departure  was  made,  in  the 
choice  of  a  holy  hermit  of  obscure  birth,  who  had  spent  ^eiestme 
his  life  in  solitude  and  self-torment  after  the  fashion  of 
the  saints  of  those  days :  a  strange  preparation  for  the 
pubhc  position  to  which  he  was  now  exalted.  Already 
worn  out,  both  in  body  and  mind,  by  the  life  which  he 
had  led,  the  Hermit  protested  in  vain  that  he  was  unfit 
for  the  office.  But  the  Cardinals  felt  that  they  had 
been  divinely  guided  in  their  choice,  and  he  was  in- 
augurated as  Celestine  V.,  and  grand  Papal  robes 
placed  above  his  own  coarse  dress  of  sackcloth.  It  did 
not  require  more  than  a  few  weeks  to  show  the  Cardi- 
nals what  a  mistake  they  had  made.  The  new  Pope 
was  totally  ignorant  and  lacking  in  sense  or  dignity. 
He  fell  into  the  unscrupulous  hands  of  Charles  of 
Anjou,  whom  he  believed  to  be  a  friend,  and  was  easily 
duped  by  all  who  surrounded  him.  He  gave  away 
any  dignity,  created  any  office  for  which  he  was  asked ; 
indeed  he  could  easily  be  persuaded  to  bestow  the 
same  post  over  and  over  again.  One  of  the  Cardinals, 
the  ambitious  Benedetto  Gaetani,  had  peculiar  influ- 
ence over  Celestine  and  is  supposed  to  have  been 
largely  responsible  for  inducing  him  to  lay  down  his  un- 
welcome dignity.  Kumour,  indeed,  says  that  he  resorted 
to  the  unworthy  trick  of  terrifying  him  in  the  night 
through  a  hole  in  the  wall,  and  thus  making  him  believe 
that  a  messenger  from  God  was  urging  him  to  leave  the 
world.     Certain  it  is  that  the  Pope  after  five  months 


38  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

could   bear  no  more,  announced  his  abdication  to  the 
Conclave,  and  fled  back  with  haste  to  his  old  cave  in  the 
mountains ;  whilst  the  cunning  Benedetto  was  chosen 
in  his  place  under  the  name  of  Boniface  VIII. 
Boniface         With  Boniface  the  Papacy  made  one  last  effort  at  uni- 

VIII  i-       -J 

1294-1303   versa!  supremacy.     The  new  Pope   owed   his  election 
largely  to  the  influence  of  Charles  of  Naples.     He  is  said 
to  have  gone  to  the  monarch  with  these  words :  "  King, 
thy  Pope  Celestine  had  the  will  and  the  means  to  serve 
thee  in  thy  Sicilian  war,  but  he  had  not  the  knowledge. 
Now  if  thou  wilt  work  with  thy  cardinals  that  I  may 
be  elected  Pope,  I  shall  know,  and  I  shall  will,  and  I 
shall  be  able,"     Here  then,  before  proceeding  further,  it 
will  be  as  well  to  see  what  these  affairs  were  in  Sicily 
which  required  the  Papal  interference. 
Charles  of       Charles  King  of  Naples  and  Sicily  w'as  as  we  have 
Khig^of  the  already  seen,  the  most  powerful  of  all  temporal  Princes 
two  Sicilies  J  ^^  |.j^g  Itahan  Peninsula;  but  the  close  of  his  life  was 
involved  in  misfortunes  and  humiliations  by  no  means 
undeserved.     French  rule  was  hated  with  a  fierce  and 
bitter  hatred  in  this  Southern  Kingdom,  and  especially 
in    Sicily,   where  Charles  moreover   had  a   determined 
opponent  in  John  of  Procida,  sometime  physician  to  King 
Manfred  of  the  Swabian  line.     Whether  stirred  by  per- 
sonal or  purely  patriotic  motives,  John  was  privately 
working  for  the  downfall  of  the  Angevin  dynasty,  and 
intriguing  for  this  purpose  w^ith  Pedro  King  of  Aragon, 
who  himself  had  a  claim  to  the  throne  from  his  marriage 
with  Manfred's  daughter  Constance  of  Sicily.     The  train 
was  laid,  therefore,  although  the  fire  w^as  kindled  by  a 
Sicilian      chauce  spark  which  suddenly  precipitated  the  explosion. 
sistMarch.On  Easter  Tuesday  the  people  of  Palermo,  having  just 
^^^'^  celebrated  the  evening  service,  were  preparing  to  spend 


ITALY,  1273-1313  39 

the  rest  of  the  day  in  amusements  of  all  sorts,  when  a 
body  of  French  soldiery  arrived,  nominally  to  keep  the 
peace.  This  in  itself  excited  some  discontent,  but  it 
was  a  wanton  insult  offered  by  a  Frenchman  to  a  young 
Sicilian  girl  who  was  passing  on  the  arm  of  her  betrothed, 
which  roused  the  popular  fury.  The  cry  of  death  to  the 
French  was  raised  everywhere.  All  the  long-smoulder- 
ing anger  of  the  people  burst  forth  with  unrestrained 
violence  ;  the  French  were  massacred  on  all  sides  ;  none, 
neither  priests,  nor  women,  nor  little  children  were 
spared.  Two  thousand  French  are  said  to  have  perished 
in  the  Sicilian  Vesjjers  and  these  were  flung  for  burial 
into  an  empty  pit.  From  Palermo  the  excitement  spread 
to  the  whole  island ;  all  Sicily  was  in  arms  and  in  a 
month  no  Frenchmen  were  left  in  their  lost  territory. 
The  struggle  begun  by  the  people  was  continued  by  the 
King  of  Aragon.  Charles  vowed  recovery  and  vengeance  ;  interfer- 
"  if  he  could  live  a  thousand  years,  he  would  go  on  razing  pec^o  of 
the  cities,  burning  the  lands,  torturing  the  rebellious  ^""^^"^ 
slaves.  He  would  leave  Sicily  a  blasted,  barren  unin- 
habited rock,  as  a  warning  to  the  present  age,  an  example 
to  the  future."  Fortunately  he  was  never  able  to  fulfil 
his  threat.  Pedro  claimed  the  kingdom,  and  his  fleet, 
under  the  celebrated  Admiral  Eoger  de  Loria,  defeated  Battle  of 
the  French  ships  and  captured  Charles  Prince  of  Salerno,  1284  ' 
son  of  the  Kmg  of  Naples  himself. 

In  1285  a  number  of  deaths  changed  the  chief  actors  important 
ni  the  struggle  without  ending  the  war.  In  one  year  1235  ' 
King  Charles  himself  died  at  Foggia.  Philip  of  France, 
who  had  taken  up  arms  on  behalf  of  his  brother  Charles 
of  Valois  to  whom  the  Pope  had  offered  the  crown  of 
Aragon,  fell  ill  in  Spain  and  ended  his  days  at  Perpignan. 
Pedro,  wounded  in  the  same  war,  perished  a  few  weeks 


4:0 


THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 


later.  Martin  IV.,  the  Pope  who  had  been  so  completely 
the  creature  of  Charles  of  Anjou,  likewise  quitted  the 
scene.  Pedro's  son  Alfonso  succeeded  him  without  any 
difficulty  in  the  Spanish  kingdom,  whilst  his  younger 
brother  James  was  proclaimed  King  of  Sicily.  An 
attempt  was  made  to  end  the  dispute  by  the  arbitration 
of  Edward  I.  of  England,  and  in  1288  a  treaty  arranged 
that  Charles  II.  of  Anjou  should  be  released  and  assume 
the  crown  of  Naples,  but  that  Sicily  should  be  confirmed 
to  James  of  Aragon.  Negotiations,  however,  were  vain  ; 
Charles  when  released  claimed  both  the  Sicilies  and  war 
continued  as  before,  and  was  still  continuing  when 
Boniface  VIII.  became  Pope.  Even  the  accession  of 
James  to  the  throne  of  Aragon  and  his  consent  to  re- 
linquish the  Sicilian  Kingdom  did  not  decide  the  matter, 
for  the  Sicihan  j)eople  resolutely  refused  to  submit  to 
the  House  of  Anjou. 

They  placed  themselves  under  another  brother  of 
Pedro  of  Aragon  known  as  Frederick,  who  in  1302 
ended  the  long  quarrel  by  a  marriage  with  the  sister  of 
Charles  of  Naples.  Despite  promises  of  reversion,  the 
restoration,  that  is,  of  Sicily  on  his  death,  the  two  King- 
doms remained  separate  under  different  rulers  until 
1442,  when  both  came  into  the  hands  of  the  King  of 
Aragon,  Alfonso  V. 

From  this  it  will  be  seen  that  Boniface,  despite  his 
promises,  was  not  of  great  assistance  to  Charles  of 
Naples  ;  and  it  was  in  connection  with  this  struggle  that 
he  summoned  to  Italy  another  foreign  prince,  whose 
interference  was  not  hmited  to  Sicily,  and  who  roused 
universal  indignation  throughout  the  country,  in  which 
the  Pope  was  included.  This  was  Charles  of  Valois,  the 
second  son  of  Philip  III.   of  France,  who  had  already 


ITALY,  1273-1313  41 

iigured  as  the  papal  nominee  for  the  throne  of  Aragon. 
He  remained,  after  concluding  the  ignominious  treaty 
with  Sicily,  to  turn  his  arms  against  Florence  and  to 
trample  on  her  liberties . 

Boniface  made  many  enemies  ;  he  did  all  he  could  in  Character 
Rome  to  degrade  the  proud  family  of  Colonna — danger- face  viii. 
ous  foes  as  he  was  to  find  to  his  cost.  He  took  little 
trouble  to  restrain  his  violent  temper  and  quick  tongue. 
Whilst  performing  the  Ash-Wednesday  ceremony  of 
scattering  ashes  on  the  heads  of  penitents  to  remind  them 
of  their  end,  he  flung  them  into  the  eyes  of  a  personal 
rival,  exclaiming  :  "  Ghibelin,  remember  that  you  are  but 
dust,  and  that  with  the  other  GhibeHns  your  fellows  you 
will  return  to  dust ".  It  was  not  only  in  Italy  that  the 
Pope  brought  himself  into  trouble  ;  he  claimed  a  Euro- 
pean supremacy,  which  led  him  to  interfere  in  all  that 
was  going  forward.  When  Albert  of  Austria  became 
Emperor  in  the  place  of  Adolf  of  Nassau,  Boniface  re- 
fused to  recognise  him,  and  put  the  crown  on  his  own 
head  as  a  sign  of  his  control  over  the  Imperial  election. 
"  It  is  I  who  am  Caesar,  I  who  am  Emperor,  I  who  will 
defend  the  rights  of  the  Empire,"  he  is  reported  to  have 
cried.  Both  England  and  France  were  to  be  brought 
under  his  control.  The  clergy  of  all  countries  were 
only  to  be  taxed  by  him,  said  Boniface,  and  by  his  Bull 
Clericis  Laioos  publicly  asserted  the  same  in  France  and 
England,  where  Philip  IV.  and  Edward  I.  respectively 
were  trying  to  make  the  spiritual  estate  share  in 
national  burdens.  But  in  England  and  France  the 
Pope  met  his  match.  The  Enghsh  clergy,  after  a  long 
dispute,  submitted  to  the  King,  and  when  Boniface 
summoned  Edward  to  answer  for  his  conduct  in  Scot- 
land before   the  Papal  Court,   laymen  and  churchmen 


42 


THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 


Death  of 
Boniface, 
1303 


alike  supported  him  in  his  refusal.  With  Philip  IV. 
the  quarrel  was  still  more  heated  and  still  more  impor- 
tant. The  discontented  Colonna  joined  hands  with  the 
French  King,  and  a  combined  attack  at  Anagni  upon 
the  Pope,  who  was  imprisoned  in  his  own  palace,  gave 
a  shock  to  the  old  man  from  which  he  never  recovered. 
His  subsequent  restoration  to  Eome  was  followed 
almost  immediately  by  his  death.  (See  chapter  iii.,  for 
details  of  this.)  Villani,  the  Italian  historian  says  of 
Boniface  :  "  He  was  very  wise  both  in  learning  and  in 
natural  wit,  and  a  man  very  cautious  and  experienced 
and  of  great  knowledge  and  memory  ;  very  haughty  he 
was,  and  proud,  and  cruel  towards  his  enemies  and  ad- 
versaries, and  was  of  great  heart  and  much  feared  by 
all  people  ".  Whatever  might  be  the  Pope's  character, 
universal  horror  was  excited  by  the  treatment  which  he 
received,  and  it  was  prophesied  that  great  troubles  would 
come  upon  Philip  and  his  lineage  in  consequence. 
Villani  says  again  :  "  The  judgment  of  God  is  not  to 
be  marvelled  at :  for  albeit  Pope  Boniface  was  more 
worldly  than  was  fitting  to  his  dignity,  and  had  done 
many  things  displeasing  to  God,  God  caused  him  to  be 
punished  after  the  fashion  that  we  have  said,  and  after- 
wards he  punished  the  offender  against  him,  not  so 
much  for  the  injury  against  the  person  of  Pope  Boniface 
as  for  the  sin  committed  against  the  Divine  Majesty, 
whose  countenance  he  represented  on  earth  ".  For  the 
time  being,  however,  Philip  seems  to  have  had  every- 
thing his  own  way  ;  Benedict  XI.  the  next  Pope  was 
reconciled  with  him,  and  Clement  V.,  the  Archbishop  of 
Bordeaux  who  succeeded,  was  completely  won  over. 
"With  Boniface  VIII.,"  says  Bishop  Creighton,  "fell 
the  Papacy  ^j^g  MediEBval  Papacy."     Under  an  outward  appearance 


Benedict 
XI.,  1303- 
1305 

Clement 
v.,  1305- 
1314 

Decline  of 


ITALY,  1273-1313  43 

of  strength  decline  had  been  steadily  progressing.  As 
Italian  lords  the  Popes  were  losing  some  of  their  old 
prestige,  and  their  position  in  Kome  was  constantly 
undermined  by  family  jealousies.  Either  the  Pope  was 
supported  by  the  Orsini,  the  Colonna,  or  the  Savelli,  or 
he  was  weakened  by  their  hostility.  That  the  Papacy 
was  not  strong  enough  to  manage  even  the  affairs  of 
Italy  had  been  shown  by  the  unwise  policy  of  introducing 
foreign  aid.  The  summons  of  Charles  of  Anjou  was  the 
first  mistake,  and  he  soon  became  a  rival  rather  than  a 
tool.  The  character  of  many  of  the  Popes  was  not  cal- 
culated to  exalt  the  respect  felt  for  the  Holy  See,  and 
when  Celestine  V.  virtually  denied  his  own  infallibility, 
it  was  impossible  that  others  should  preserve  their 
belief  totally  unshaken.  Finally,  the  worldiness  and 
violence  of  Boniface  degraded  the  Holy  Office  still  fur- 
ther, and  his  vexatious  interference  in  other  countries  "  Baby- 
roused  European  hostility  and  national  resistance.  With  ti'vityV'^^^ 
Clement  V.  began  that  residence  of  the  Popes  at  Avignon  1305-1370 
known  as  the  "  Babylonish  Captivity,"  which  diminished 
irrevocably  their  influence  over  Church  and  State  alike. 
Eightly  or  wrongly  they  were  considered  for  the  time 
as  mere  vassals  of  France  and  treated  accordingly. 
Later  struggles  and  later  difficulties  were  to  hasten  still 
further  their  downward  career. 

Meanwhile  to  turn  to  town  history,  the  chief  interest 
of  the  period  centres  round  Florence,  where  the  poet  Florence 
Dante  was  now  living  and  working,  and  taking  that 
part  in  poHtical  events  which  was  to  end  in  his  banish- 
ment from  home,  and  the  casting  in  of  his  lot  with  that 
of  the  Ghibelline  party.  Tuscany  throughout  the  latter 
half  of  the  thirteenth  century  was  still  engaged  in  active 
rivalry  between  the  two  great  parties  of  Guelf  and  Ghibel-  Ghibeiiiues 


44  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

line,  success  leaning  to  the  side  of  the  former,  owing 
partly  to  the  strong  position  won  for  them  by  Charles  of 
Anjou  who  acted  as  Imperial  Vicar.  Florence  for  the 
most  part  was  a  stronghold  of  the  Guelfs :  and  here  at 
least  the  leading  characteristic  of  this  party  came  to  be 
the  support  of  popular  government,  whilst  the  Ghibel- 
line  represented  the  aristocracJ^  Struggle  within  and 
without  was  incessant.  Without,  the  city  was  occupied 
by  war  with  Pisa  and  Arezzo :  over  the  latter  she  won 
the  victory  of  Campelduno,  where  Dante  fought.  Within, 
the  popular  party  was  busy  building  up  the  democratic 
constitution  which  has  already  been  described.  By  the 
close  of  the  century  Florence  had  worked  her  way  to  a 
very  important  position.  All  Tuscany  was  for  the  time 
at  her  feet ;  some  towns  as  friends,  others  as  subjects : 
at  home  she  was  tranquil,  rich  and  ruled  by  a  popular 
government ;  literature  and  art  were  making  rapid  pro- 
gress. 
Family  This  statc  of  tranquillity  was  but  short  lived  :  familv 

dissensions  ^       -,      ,       .  •,  -i     p  ■        ^        e  i 

ieuds  broke  out  with  renewed  lury  m  the  fourteenth 
century,  especially  between  the  two  great  houses  of  the 
Cerchi  and  the  Donati.  The  former  were  a  family  of 
merchants,  very  rich  but  not  noble ;  the  latter  were 
poor  and  aristocratic,  headed  by  Corso  Donati  who  is 
described  as :  "  gentle  of  blood,  beautiful  in  person, 
pohshed  in  manners,  of  pleasing  conversation,  a  subtle 
intellect  and  a  mind  ever  intent  on  evil  ".  To  these  in- 
ternal troubles  worse  were  added  by  the  connection  of 
Florence  with  Pistoia.  The  latter  was  a  small  town  about 
twenty  miles  distant,  which  was  in  so  terrible  a  state  of 
turbulence  and  disorder  owing  to  the  quarrels  between 
two  branches  of  the  same  family,  which  had  taken  the 

The  Blacks 

and  Whites  names  of  the  Blacks  and  the  Whites,  that  appeal  was 


ITALY,  1273-1313  45 

made  to  Florence,  who  accepted  the  government  of  the 
city  for  three  years.  This  meant  the  introduction  of  the 
struggle  between  Blacks  and  Whites  within  their  own 
walls ;  the  Blacks  became  identified  with  the  Donati, 
the  Whites  with  the  Cerchi.  In  vain  the  Florentine 
Priors,  amongst  whom  at  this  time  was  the  poet  Dante, 
banished  the  leaders  of  both  factions  impartially  :  this 
only  led  to  conspiracy  without,  and  the  Blacks  intrigued 
with  Charles  of  Valois,  who  willingly  accepted  the  chance  Charles  of 

.  .  •       11  Valois  in 

of  power  m  Florence,  and  commg  nommally  as  a  peace-  Florence, 
maker  sent  by  the  Pope,  made  himself  master  of  the 
town  and  readmitted  Corso  Donati,  Now  followed  a 
period  of  misery  and  violence  far  worse  than  before. 
Charles  of  Valois  took  advantage  of  this  opportunity  for 
extortion  and  oppression.  The  Whites  were  banished 
from  Florence  in  great  numbers  :  Dante  was  proscribed, 
probably  for  having  resisted  a  grant  of  public  money  to 
the  rapacious  Frenchman ;  he  left  never  to  return. 
Charles  stayed  long  enough  to  make  a  fortune  and  win 
universal  hatred  ;  he  then  slunk  back  to  France,  leaving 
Florence  in  a  turmoil  of  domestic  war  and  external  in- 
trigue, which  it  would  take  too  long  to  attempt  to  dis- 
entangle. A  short  calm  followed  the  death  of  Corso 
Donati,  who  suffered  the  penalty  of  too  much  success, 
was  proscribed  by  the  government,  and  murdered  by 
his  enemies ;  and  in  the  same  year  the  city  succeeded 
in  winning  a  repeal  of  the  Interdict,  under  which  they 
had  been  lying  for  years,  by  sending  help  to  a  Papal 
army  and  so  once  more  becoming  friends  of  the  Holy 
See ;  but  nothing  was  sufficient  to  quiet  domestic  dis- 
cord. A  chronicler  of  the  time  laments  the  evils  of 
such  a  state  and  predicts  the  results  that  must  follow. 
"  Thus   our   city  continues  tormented ;    thus  obstinate 


46  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

in  evil  deeds  remain  our  citizens ;  and  what  is  done 
to-day  is  blamed  to-morrow.  0  wicked  citizens  !  Ye 
that  have  corrupted  and  vitiated  mankind  by  your  evil 
customs  and  unhallowed  gains  !  Ye  are  those  who  have 
introduced  every  evil  habit  into  the  world,  and  now  the 
world  will  reward  you !  The  Emperor  with  all  his 
power  will  come  upon  you  and  plunder  you  by  sea  and 
land." 

Dante's  De  Many  still  felt  that  the  only  hope  for  Italy  was  a  strong 
onaitiu.  ^^Yqy^  and  the  theory  of  the  Mediaeval  Empire  was  not 
yet  dead.  Dante  represents  this  view  in  his  De  Mon- 
archia  and  all  through  the  Dlvina  Commedia  also  illus- 
trations can  be  found  of  his  passion  for  the  ideal  of 
Eome  as  the  centre  of  a  universal  monarchy.  Never 
for  a  moment  would  Dante  deny  the  spiritual  supremacy 
of  the  Pope ;  but  neither  would  he  admit  Papal  claims 
to  superiority  over  a  Eoman  Emperor.  For  one  divine 
right  over  eternal  life,  for  the  other  equally  divine  right 
over  temporal  concerns.  "  For  peace  one  must  rule. 
Mankind  is  most  like  God  when  at  unity,  for  God  is  one  ; 
therefore  under  a  monarchy ;  "  and  again,  "  Let  Caesar 
show  towards  Peter  the  reverence  wherewith  a  first-born 
son  honours  his  father,  that,  being  illumined  by  the  light 
of  his  paternal  favour,  he  may  the  more  excellently  shine 
forth  upon  the  whole  world,  to  the  rule  of  which  he  has 
been  appointed  by  Him  alone  who  is  of  all  things,  both 
spiritual  and  temporal,  the  King  and  Governor." 

The  Em-         With  Henry  of  Luxemburg  this  Imperial  idea  seemed 

Henry  VII.  to  have  one  more  hope  of  success.  Kudolf  of  Habsburg 
and  his  immediate  successors  had  strengthened  their  posi- 
tion as  German  Monarchs,  they  had  been  fully  occupied 
without  asserting  wider  claims ;  Italy  they  had  abandoned. 

Italy,  1310  Henry  VII.  declared  his  determination  to  assert  Imperial 


ITALY,  1273-1313  47 

rights  in  Italy,  put  down  factions  and  receive  the  Crown 
of  Rome.  He  came  at  a  time  of  great  need,  and  at  first 
his  success  was  surprising.  The  Lombard  cities  opened 
their  gates  to  him,  with  strict  impartiaHty  he  restored 
their  exiles,  whether  Guelf  or  Ghibelline  ;  deputies  from 
nearly  every  State  hastened  to  swear  allegiance.  At 
Milan  he  received  the  iron  crown  of  Lombardy ;  "laurel 
leaves  in  their  steel,  polished  and  shining  as  a  sword,  and 
with  many  large  pearls  and  other  stones,"  and  the  people 
wept  tears  of  joy.  At  Genoa  he  was  received  with 
honour  and  appointed  Imperial  Vicar  over  the  Re- 
public. The  real  insecurity  of  his  position  was,  however, 
soon  obvious.  The  impressionable  people  welcomed  his 
coming  and  rebelled  against  him  as  soon  as  his  back  was 
turned.  The  Emperor  was  poor  and  obliged  to  levy  taxes, 
and  this  more  than  all  else  raised  opposition.  Florence 
was  his  most  determined  enemy,  and  Florentine  intrigues 
were  largely  responsible  for  the  insurrections  against 
him,  and  a  Guelfic  League  was  formed  in  Tuscany  with 
Robert  King  of  Naples  at  its  head.  The  GhibelHne  city 
of  Pisa  received  him  indeed  with  great  favour  and  sup- 
phed  him  with  men  and  money  for  his  advance  to  Rome. 
Here  his  coronation  fell  very  flat,  for  Prince  John  of  Coronation 
Naples  held  St.  Peter's,  and  the  ceremony  performed  atvii.Tt^^ 
St.  John  Lateran  was  robbed  of  much  of  its  effect.  The  ^°"^'  ^^^^ 
next  year  was  one  of  war  for  the  newly  crowned  Emperor. 
He  made  vain  attempts  against  Florence,  devastated  the 
country  round,  and  made  a  league  with  Sicily  and  Genoa 
against  the  hostile  King  of  Naples.  Whether  Henry 
could  even  for  a  time  have  made  good  his  authority  re- 
mains for  ever  doubtful,  for  worn  out  by  exertions  and  Death  of 
an  illness  which  he  had  disregarded  in  order  not  to  dis-  viL^^iais 
courage  his  soldiers,  he  died  so  suddenly  before  Siena, 


48  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

that  all  believed  him  to  have  been  poisoned.  He  had 
taken  the  Sacrament  immediately  before,  and  the  ru- 
mour spread  that  the  Priest  had  caused  his  death  by 
administering  poisoned  wine. 

Such  a  tale  was  all  too  readily  believed  in  those  days. 
Reaieud  of  Whatever  the  truth  may  be,  with  Henry  perished  the 
authority  dream  of  upholdmg  the  universal  authority  of  the  Em- 
in  Italy  peror ;  his  was  the  last  real  attempt  to  assert  such 
claims  and  Italy  was  left  without  a  sovereign.  Henry 
Vn.  was  an  able  Prince,  full  of  enthusiasm  and  energy 
inspired  by  the  highest  principles.  Villani  says  of  him 
that  he  was  never  depressed  in  adversity  nor  unduly 
elated  by  success,  and  that  it  was  astonishing  how 
much  he  achieved  in  so  short  a  time  and  with  such  scant 
resources.  The  difficulties  of  his  task  must,  however, 
have  proved  insurmountable  in  the  long  run.  The  dis- 
sensions and  divisions  of  Italy  were  too  deeply  rooted  to 
be  healed  by  even  the  strongest  authority,  and  Henry  as 
a  foreigner  could  hardly  have  expected  universal  support. 
The  days  of  Imperial  rule  were  really  over.  Dante  was 
preaching  a  theory  which  had  long  lost  any  practical 
significance.  Henry  died  in  a  noble  but  vain  attempt  to 
revive  an  obsolete  ideal. 

ADDITIONAL  BOOKS 

Milman  :  History  of  Latin  Christianity. 

SismoncU  ;  Italian  Republics  (Lardner's  "Cabinet  Cyclopaedia"). 


CHAPTEE  III 

FRENCH  HISTORY,  1273-1328 

WHEN  St.  Louis  lay  dying  at  Tunis  in  1270,  he Pbiiip ill., 
begged  his  son  Philip  to  make  his  subjects  love 
him ;  "  for  I  would  rather  a  Scotsman  came  from  Scotland 
and  governed  the  people  vi^ell  and  loyally,  than  that  you 
should  govern  them  ill  ".  Philip  III.,  the  Bold  as  he  has 
been  called,  was  a  disappointing  son  of  so  great  a  father : 
he  may  not  have  governed  ill,  but  he  has  left  little  impress 
on  history.  He  was  handsome,  gentle  and  pious,  but 
perhaps  he  had  been  almost  too  scrupulously  brought  up. 
Every  day  he  had  been  accustomed  as  a  child  to  attend 
long  services,  to  receive  constant  instruction,  to  obey 
and  imitate  his  father  in  everything.  Hence  he  grew  up 
with  very  few  ideas  of  his  own,  ready  to  submit  to  any 
strong  will,  and  apt  to  fall  under  the  influence  of 
favourites,  or  of  his  determined  uncle,  Charles  of  Anjou. 
Nevertheless  the  Crown  achieved  something  during  his 
reign. 

The  part  played  by  Monarchy  in  France  has  been  a 
very  important  one.  In  old  times  the  country  suffered 
much  from  its  feudal  barons,  and  under  the  early  Kings 
the  royal  power  was  little  if  at  all  superior  to  that  of 
the  great  vassals,  such  as  the  Dukes  of  Normandy  and 
Aquitaine,  the  Counts  of  Champagne  and  of  Toulouse. 
By  1270  much  had  already  been  done  to  remedy  this. 
Philip  Augustus  and  St.  Louis  had  added  considerable 
territory  to  the  Crown  and  had  checked  the  power  of 
4  49 


50  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

the  nobles  by  strengthening  royal  justice,  and  by  sending 
officials  of  their  own  all  over  France.  Every  gain  to 
the  Crow^n  was  a  blow  to  the  barons,  and  a  step  towards 
the  formation  of  a  strong  central  power,  very  necessary 
New  lauds  in  those  days  of  feudal  divisions.  More  lands  were 
the  Crown  peacefully  acquired  by  the  Crown  in  Philip  III.'s  reign. 
He  succeeded  to  large  territories  on  the  death  of  his 
uncle,  Alfonso  of  Poitiers,  which  gave  him  Poitou, 
Toulouse,  Auvergne  and  part  of  Provence  ;  and  his  son, 
afterwards  Philip  IV.,  added  fresh  gains  by  his  marriage 
with  the  little  heiress  of  Champagne  and  Navarre.  The 
only  dangerous  vassals  of  the  Crown  at  this  time  were 
the  Duke  of  Brittany,  the  Count  of  Flanders,  and 
Edward  I.  of  England  who  was  Duke  of  Guienne. 
English  Edward  took  great  interest  in  his  French  possessions, 
in  France  and  by  the  Treaty  of  Amiens  secured  Saintonge  and 
Agenais,  which  had  been  held  rather  precariously,  and 
through  his  wife,  Eleanor  of  Castile,  acquired  in  addition 
the  territory  of  Ponthieu  and  Montreuil  in  the  North  of 
France. 
War  with  Philip  III,  died,  as  his  father  had  done,  on  an  unsatis- 
factory expedition,  dignified  by  the  name  of  a  crusade. 
His  uncle,  Charles  of  Anjou,  just  before  his  death, 
induced  him  to  undertake  a  war  against  Pedro  III.  of 
Aragon,  a  personal  rival  of  his  own  in  the  Kingdom  of 
Sicily.  The  Pope,  who  had  also  suffered  at  Pedro's 
hands,  offered  the  Crown  of  Aragon  to  a  French  Prince, 
and  Philip,  accepting  it  for  his  youngest  son  Charles  of 
Valois,  raised  a  large  force,  and  proclaimed  the  under- 
taking as  a  Holy  War.  Spain  has  often  proved  fatal 
to  its  invaders.  The  French  army  was  wasted  by  sick- 
ness and  the  King  himself  fell  fatally  ill.  He  was  carried 
on  a  litter  amidst  pouring  rain  to  Perpignan,  where  he 


FRANCE  in  Xlii  Century 


ft.v.'6»»Jjr*>^«,oi(w^,iV'«" 


English  Fiefs  after  Treaty  of  Amiens  1279 


52  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

Death  of     died  in  1285,  having  lost  his  Hfe  in  a  useless  enterprise, 
PhUipIII.     ,._  .'*'-  ,.  ,.  , 

chieiiy  undertaken  to  please  his  overbearing  uncle. 

Philip  IV.,  Philip  IV.  who  succeeded,  the  Fair  or  the  Handsome 
he  was  called,  is  known  as  a  person  almost  as  little  as 
his  father,  although  his  reign  was  very  much  more  im- 
portant. One  of  his  courtiers  has  indeed  left  a  portrait 
of  him,  but  so  obviously  overdrawn  that  it  does  not 
help  us  much.  William  de  Nogaret  writes  :  "  He  was 
pure-minded,  modest  in  face  and  speech  ;  never  in  a 
passion,  he  hated  no  one,  he  envied  no  one,  he  loved  the 
whole  world.  Full  of  grace  and  charity,  pious,  merciful, 
always  following  truth  and  justice,  he  never  said  an  evil 
word  of  any  one.  Fervent  in  faith,  religious  in  his  life, 
building  Churches,  active  in  good  works,  beautiful  in 
feature  and  charming  in  expression,  agreeable  to  all, 
even  to  his  enemies."  Others  speak  of  him  less  en- 
thusiastically. The  Bishop  of  Pamiers,  who  was  not 
hkely  to  be  friendly,  is  reported  to  have  said  that  the 
King  was  like  a  great  horned-owl,  "  the  finest  of  birds 
but  worth  nothing  at  all,"  "  the  handsomest  man  in  the 
world  but  he  can  only  look  at  people  without  speaking," 
"  the  King  is  not  a  beast,  but  an  image".  Perhaps  the 
reason  that  we  know  so  little  of  Philip  himself  is  that  he 
was  so  cold  and  so  silent :  great  events  happened  in  his 
reign,  and  apparently  he  took  part  in  all,  but  what 
he  actually  said  or  did  we  do  not  know.  He  may  have 
been  a  strong  man  who  went  quietly  on  his  way  what- 
ever people  thought ;  or  he  may  have  been  a  tool  in  the 
hands  of  his  favourites  and  ministers,  taking  no  active 
share  in  the  great  Church  questions,  constitutional  pro- 
blems and  pohtical  changes  of  the  time.  In  any  case 
we  know  he  was  handsome,  and  we  rather  gather  that 

End  of       he  was  obstinate. 

Xa'cr^n^^'       The  first  thing  the  new  King  had  to  do  was  to  get  as 


FRENCH  HISTORY,  1273-1328  53 

best  he  could  out  of  the  war  with  Aragon.  This  dragged 
on  a  httle  while,  but  in  the  end  Charles  of  Valois  gave 
up  his  claims,  and  the  useless  struggle  was  dropped. 

The  importance  of  the  reign  rests  chiefly  upon  three 
great  questions.  Philip's  poHcy  towards  England  and 
Flanders,  interesting  to  us  because  it  tended  to  create 
those  strained  relations  which  were  to  lead  eventually 
to  the  Hundred  Years'  War  ;  a  memorable  quarrel  be- 
tween King  and  Pope,  which  brought  much  humiliation 
upon  the  Papacy ;  and  a  great  advance  in  the  French 
constitution,  which  makes  this  reign  an  important  land- 
mark in  the  formation  of  the  strong  monarchical  govern- 
ment of  France. 

Never  so  long  as  the  Enghsh  Kings  clung  to  their  Relations 
French  territories,  was  there  any  difiiculty  in  finding  J^^^J  ^"^'' 
causes  of  quarrel  between  England  and  France.  Philip 
adopted  a  well-known  trick  in  waiting  till  Edward  I. 
was  thoroughly  occupied  at  home,  and  then  summoning 
him  to  appear  before  a  court  of  peers  in  Paris,  on  some 
question  of  disputes  between  Norman  and  Gascon  sailors. 
The  English  King  had  his  hands  full  in  Wales  and 
Scotland,  and  though  he  sent  his  brother  to  represent 
him,  his  absence  gave  the  French  King  the  excuse 
and  the  opportunity  of  marching  his  own  troops  into 
Guienne  and  occupying  the  English  possessions. 

Little  actual  fighting  resulted,  but  the  affair  is  inter- 
esting because  here  France  began  her  constant  policy  of 
allying  with  England's  enemy  the  Scotch;  while  Edward, 
as  his  successors  did  later,  joined  hands  with  Flanders, 
this  time  with  Count  Guy  of  Dampierre,  a  vassal,  and 
not  a  very  submissive  one,  of  the  French  King.     Peace  Peace  be- 
was  finally  arranged  between  the  two  countries ;  Edward  j^nd  and 
with  reluctance  filled  the  place  of  his  much-loved  Queen  ^93°*^' 
Eleanor  by  a  marriage  with  Philip's  sister  Margaret ; 


54  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

and  his  son  was  betrothed  at  the  same  time  to  the  little 
Princess  Isabella.  Neither  party  was  to  help  its  old 
allies,  and  the  English  quarrel  gave  place  to  a  more  ex- 
citing conflict  between  France  and  Flanders. 

Left  to  its  fate,  Flanders  was  soon  in  the  possession  of 
the  French ;  Count  Guy  and  his  son  were  imprisoned 
in  Paris,  and  a  Governor  was  sent  to  rule  the  country 
in  the  King's  name.  Philip  made  a  triumphant  entry 
into  the  conquered  land,  accompanied  by  his  wife,  and 
the  Flemings  decked  in  their  best  made  so  fine  a 
show  before  their  new  lord,  that  Queen  Joan  grumbled 
that  she  found  600  queens  where  she  expected  to  be  the 
only  one.  Flanders  was  rich  through  her  own  industry 
and  enterprise,  and  her  townsmen  were  not  to  be  ill- 
treated  with  impunity.  Bruges,  most  important  of  her 
towns,  was  ordered  by  the  Governor  to  lose  its  privileges 
and  to  have  its  fortifications  pulled  down,  with  the  re- 
sult that  early  one  morning,  while  most  men  were  still  in 
bed,  the  artisans  rose  and  fell  upon  the  sleeping  French, 
who  perished  in  a  massacre  so  wholesale  that  the  "  Ma- 
tins of  Bruges  "  have  often  been  compared  to  the  "  Sic- 
ilian Vespers".  Indignant  France  hastened  to  avenge  the 
outrage ;  the  noblest  and  proudest  of  French  chivalry 
flocked  into  Flanders  to  punish  the  insolent  burghers. 
At  Courtrai  the  cavalrj^  of  France  thought  to  mow 
down  without  trouble  the  Flemish  foot-soldiers.  In  ill- 
considered  haste,  taunting  with  cowardice  those  who 
cautioned  prudence,  they  rushed  on  the  enemy,  to  fall 
pell-mell  into  an  unexpected  ditch  which  stretched  in 
front  of  the  rival  army :  struggling  in  confusion,  they 
fell  an  easy  prey  to  their  despised  foe,  and  a  proof  was 
given  of  the  triumph  of  discipline  over  rashness,  of  an 
organised   arm}'  over   feudal    levies :   an   object    lesson 


FRENCH  HISTOEY,  1273-1328  55 

which  the  French  would  have  done  well  to  take  more  to 
heart.      Four  hundred  golden  spurs  hung  up  in  the  Ca- 
thedral of  Courtrai  commemorated  the  first  victory  won 
by  townsmen  over  mounted  knights.     The  immediate 
result  was  the  release  of  Count  Guy,  on  condition  that 
he  should  arrange  a  satisfactory  peace ;  but  he  returned 
to  prison  and  death,  rather  than  allow  his  people  to  con- 
sent to  Philip's  humiliating  terms.     The  following  year,  ^^^^^^l 
a  second  battle  at  Mons-en-Puelle  ended,   though  notpueiie, 
without  a  severe  struggle,  in  a  victory  for  the  French,  13^4    "^' 
and  finally  a  peace  was  made  by  which  France  gained 
Lille,  Douai,  and  Bethune.     Guy's  son  Kobert  was,  how-  p^^^^^^^*^' 
ever,  released  and  recognised  as  Count.     The  struggle  1305 
had  resulted  in  an  arrangement  bound  to  lead  to  further 
disputes,  but  it  had  at  least  shown  what  free  cities  and 
determined  townsmen  could  do  against  royal  despotism 
and  a  feudal  army. 

In  his  disputes  with  the  Pope,  Philip  was  extraordin- Qnan;ei 

'-  11-1  n         '^^•th  Boni- 

arily  successful.    France  had  always  been  hitherto  a  firm  face  viii. 
supporter  of  the  Papacy,  a  fact  which  renders  all  the 
more  remarkable  the  history  of  this  quarrel,  which  was  to 
result  in  a  blow  to  the  Papal  power  from  which  it  never 
completely  recovered. 

In  1294  the  Papal  throne  was  filled  by  Boniface  VIII., 
a  proud  and  violent  man,  who  had  obtained  the  ofiice 
after  the  abdication  of  his  predecessor  the  sainted 
Celestine  V.  The  high  ideal  of  Papal  importance,  in- 
stilled by  Gregory  VII.  and  Innocent  III.,  had  not  yet 
been  forgotten,  and  this  in  the  hands  of  such  a  man  as 
Boniface  meant  a  claim  to  interfere  in  all  matters, 
temporal  as  well  as  spiritual,  and  was  likely  to  involve 
him  in  difficulties  with  any  Kmg  who  asserted  inde- 
pendence, even  in  his  own  dominions,     With  Phihp,  as 


56  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

with  Edward  of  England,  trouble  arose  on  the  question 
of  clerical  taxation.  This  had  always  been  a  rather 
delicate  matter,  and  the  French  King  had  taken  advan- 
tage of  the  permission  granted  by  a  previous  Pope  to 
collect  money  for  the  Aragon  Crusade,  to  continue  after 
its  conclusion  a  demand  for  tithes,  which  he  now  em- 
ployed for  his  wars  with  England  and  Flanders.  The 
Bull  issue  by  Boniface  of  the  Bull  Clericis  Laicos,  declaring 

Laicos,       that  no  clerk  was  bound  to  pay  taxes  levied  by  a  lay- 
man unless  sanctioned  by  the  Pope,  was  a  measure 
to    which   the   King   of    France   was  no   more    ready 
to  submit  than  the  King  of  England,  and  Philip  replied 
by   stopping    contributions   to    Rome.     Boniface    was 
obliged   to   give  way  for  the  time,  thanks  to  being  in 
great  difficulties   on  his   own  account,     Rome  at  this 
period  was  dominated  by  two  very  important  families, 
the  Orsini  and  the  Colonna,  and  with  the  latter  the  Pope 
had  contrived  to  get  on  very  bad  terms,  chiefly  because 
he  did  not  give  them  the  places  and  the  favours  which 
they    considered   as   their    due,    and    which    Boniface 
showered  on  his  own  relatives.     Two  of  the  Cardinals 
who  were  Colonna,  began  openly  to  question  the  Pope's 
title,  and  he  replied  by  their  deposition  and  the  exile  of 
the  leading  members  of  their  family  ;  this  threw  them  in- 
to active  opposition,  and  all  enemies  of  Boniface  found  a 
ready  helper  in  Philip  of  France. 
Jubilee  iu       Despite  dangers,  the  Pope  was  determined  to  uphold 
'        all  his  pomp  and  parade  of  power.     In  1300  a  grand 
jubilee   was   held   at  Rome,  and   pilgrims  of   all  ranks 
flocked  to  the  city,  where  Boniface  was  to  be  seen  en- 
throned in  state,  with  two  swords  carried  before  him  as 
signs   that   he   possessed   both   spiritual  and   temporal 
power.    He  laid  down  law  to  Kings  and  peoples,  and  dis- 


FRENCH  HISTORY,  1273-1328  57 

played  his  haughty  pride  to  the  full :  it  is  even  said  that 
he  kicked  one  of  the  ambassadors  of  the  King  of  Germany 
in  the  face,  as  he  was  stooping  down  to  kiss  the  mule, 
on  which  the  Head  of  the  Church  was  riding.  Such  a 
temper  was  not  likely  to  pave  the  way  to  peace  and 
conciliation,  and  PhiHp's  trial  of  the  Bishop  of  Pamiers 
who  had  fallen  under  grave  suspicion  of  disloyalty,  was 
another  cause  of  quarrel  between  the  two,  the  Pope 
claiming  to  defend  his  churchman  from  a  layman's 
vengeance. 

The  next  Bull  issued  by  Boniface  was  like  match  to 
tinder.  The  already  angry  King  was  told  that  he  need 
not  beheve  himself  to  be  above  Papal  control,  for  only 
"  a  fool  or  an  infidel  "  could  think  thus  ;  and  then  fol- 
lowed a  list  of  royal  misdeeds,  seizure  of  Church  property, 
debasement  of  the  coinage  and  the  like,  with  a  threat 
that  he  was  to  be  summoned  before  a  Council  of  the 
Church  to  answer  for  his  conduct.  Either  on  purpose 
or  by  accident  this  Bull  was  burnt,  and  it  was  a  very 
short  and  not  very  exact  abstract  of  the  same  which 
Philip  made  public  to  the  people  of  France,  to  whom 
doubtless  he  did  not  care  to  offer  the  whole  recital  of- the 
not  altogether  untrue  accusations.  Great  indignation 
was  excited  in  France  by  the  pubhcation  of  this  sham 
Bull,  and  a  States-General  being  summoned — representa-  states- 
tives,  that  is,  of  nobles,  clergy  and  people — a  joint  mes- 13^2^''* ' 
sage  of  remonstrance  was  sent  to  the  Pope.  The  clergy 
were  afraid  to  say  much,  and  merely  begged  for  unity 
and  friendship,  but  nobles  and  burghers  were  hotly  on 
the  side  of  the  King,  and  vowed  that  they  would  support 
his  independence  to  the  death.  The  Pope  received  the 
French  ambassador  at  Anagni,  and  made  fierce  reply,  French 
heaping  abuse  on  the   King's  Minister,  Pierre  Plotte :  ^^^ffp^^pg 


58  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

" '  What  God  has  joined  together  let  not  man  put 
asunder,'  these  words,  my  brothers,  relate  to  the  Roman 
Church  and  the  Kingdom  of  France.  Man !  what 
man  ?  I  mean  this  Achitophel  who  counselled  Absalom 
against  his  father  David,  this  diabolic  man,  blind  of  an 
eye,  totally  blind  in  brain,  this  man  of  vinegar  and  honey, 
this  Pierre  Flotte,  this  heretic  !  ...  he  shall  be  punished 
both  spiritually  and  temporally,  but  pray  God  the  care 
of  his  punishment  may  be  reserved  to  me  !  "  The  prayer 
of  the  violent  old  man  was  not  literally  answered,  for 
Pierre  Flotte  lost  his  life  at  the  Battle  of  Courtrai ;  but 
this  great  humiliation,  coming  just  at  the  critical  moment, 
gave  a  momentary  triumph  to  the  Pope,  and  he  pub- 
lished a  complete  declaration  of  Papal  power,  with  the 
threat  of  excommunication  against  all  who  resisted : 
"  we  announce  and  affirm  that  submission  to  the  Ro- 
man Pontiff  is  a  necessity  of  salvation  to  every  human 
creature  ".     So  ended  his  proclamation. 

Philip  was  quiet  for  the  moment,  but  he  was  soon  to 
follow  the  lead  of  another  fresh  councillor,  far  more  op- 
posed to  the  Roman  see  than  was  Pierre  Flotte.     A  new 
favourite,  William  of  Nogaret,  suggested  the  bold  scheme 
of  summoning  Boniface  himself  before  a  General  Council 
as  a  usurper  of  the  holy  office,  a  blasphemer,  a  heretic 
and  an  evil  doer  of  the  worst  type.     Nogaret 's  accusa- 
tions were  wilfully  exaggerated  and  worked  up  for  the  oc- 
casion, but  it  was  only  too  true  that  Boniface  was  totally 
unfitted  by  his  ungovernable  ambition  and  violence  for 
the    high   position   in  which    he  was  placed,    and   all 
France  was  ready  to  support  his  deposition.     Possibly 
Pope  at-     Nogaret  did  not  dare  to  await  the  summons  of  a  General 
AuagiV"    Council,  for  which  the  consent  of  other  countries  had 
1303  also  to  be  obtained  ;  in  any  case  he  joined  hands  secretly 


FRENCH  HISTORY,  1273-1328  59 

with  the  Colonna,  who  had  troops  of  men  at  their  com- 
mand, and  he  and  Sciarra  Colonna  together  led  a  force  into 
Anagni  itself,  invaded  the  palace  where  the  Pope  was  re- 
siding, and  flew  the  Fleur-de-Lys  of  France  from  its  roof. 
Now  Boniface  showed  himself  at  his  best.  Deserted  by 
all,  the  brave  old  man — he  was  eighty-six  years  of  age — 
waited  for  his  foes,  arrayed  in  his  robes  of  state,  bearing 
the  keys  of  St.  Peter  and  the  Holy  Cross.  "  Betrayed 
as  was  Jesus,  I  shall  die,  but  I  shall  die  Pope,"  he  is  re- 
ported to  have  said  :  and  to  Sciarra  who  struck  him 
with  his  iron  gauntlet,  "  Here  is  my  head,  here  is  my 
neck".  Nogaret  did  not  wish  him  killed,  and  called 
upon  him  to  thank  the  kindness  of  the  King  of  France, 
who  protected  him  from  afar,  through  the  person  of 
himself,  his  representative.  "  Thou  art  one  of  a  family 
of  heretics,"  replied  the  Pope  calmly,  alluding  to  his 
descent  from  the  Albigenses,  "  I  expect  martyrdom  at 
thy  hands."  For  three  days  Boniface  remained  a  pris- 
oner in  his  palace,  refusing  to  eat  for  fear  of  poison. 
At  the  end  of  that  time,  the  mob  rose  on  his  behalf, 
drove  the  French  from  the  city,  and  escorted  the  Pope, 
amidst  prayers  and  thanksgivings  to  his  capital.  But 
the  strain  and  stress  of  his  capture  and  his  delivery  had 
been  too  much  for  so  old  a  man,  and  his  mind  gave  way. 
Madly  resisting  all  food  and  all  religious  offices,  Boniface 
died  unshriven  and  unconfessed,  so  fulfiUing,  according 
to  contemporary  writers,  the  words  of  his  predecessor  : 
"Thou  hast  claimed  the  throne  like  a  fox;  thou  shalt 
reign  hke  a  lion,  thou  shalt  die  hke  a  dog  ". 

The  death  of  Boniface  meant  much  more  than  the 
disappearance  from  the  scene  of  a  wicked  but  ill-used 
old  man  ;  it  meant  the  degradation  of  the  Papacy  before 
the  growing  power  of    the  French  Crown.      His  sue- 


60  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

Benedict     cessor  Benedict  XI.  was  a  man  of  feeble  character,  who 
fsol^^^^    tried  to  sooth  Philip  and  to  defend  the  memory  of  the 
dead  Pope  at  one  and    the  same  time ;    an  impossible 
attempt  which  was  hindered  by  his  death  in  the  follow- 
ing year,  not  without  grave  suspicions  of  poison.    Eleven 
months  of  intrigues  and  indecision  followed,  ended  by  a 
great  triumph  for  France  in  the  election  to  the  Papal 
Throne  of  Bertrand  de  Got,  Archbishop  of  Bordeaux,  who 
Clement     took  the  name  of  Clement  V.     Whether  or  no  it  is  true 
liii^^^'    ^hat  Philip  interviewed  the  future  Pope  before  his  election 
and  dictated  definite  terms  upon  which  he  would  agree 
to  support  him,  there  is  no  doubt  as  to  the  submissive - 
ness  of  this  new  head  of  the  Church.    The  excommunica- 
tion laid  upon  all  who  had  assisted  in  the  outrages  against 
Boniface  was  removed,  and  the  King's  share  in  the  whole 
matter  was  publicly  declared  to  be  free  from  all  blame, 
and  to  have  merely  shown  "  a  praiseworthy  zeal ".    Even 
such  humiliations  as  these  were  not  sufficient :  Clement 
V.  was  not  allowed  to  take  up  his  quarters  in  Eome. 
When  the  inheritance  of  Alfonso  of  Poitiers  fell  into  the 
"  Baby-      hands  of  the  French  King,  a  portion  of  it — the  Venaissin 
Captivity"  — ^^^  adjudged  to  be  attached  to  the  Papal  See.     In 
Avignon,  adjacent  to  this  district,  the  Popes  now  took  up 
their  residence,  a  town  situated  actually  in  the  County 
of  Provence,  until  it  was  given  to  the  Papacy  in  1348, 
but  to  all  intents  and  purposes  in  the  Kingdom  of  France. 
With  the  Papal  Court  at  Avignon  it  was  no  wonder  that 
Europe  came  to  despise  the  Pope  as  a  minion  of  the 
French  King,  and    this  "  Babylonish   Captivity,"  as  it 
was  called,  which  lasted  until  1376,  left  on  the  Papacy 
a  stain  which  centuries  could  never  efface. 
Suppres-         Following  close  on  the  Papal  quarrel,  and  helped  on 
Tempiai-r  ^^0  doubt  by  the  complete  control  which  the  King  felt 


FRENCH  HISTORY,  1273-1328  61 

he  could  exercise  over  the  Church,  came  a  very  dark 
episode  in  the  reign  :  a  record  of  suffering  and  of  cruelty 
which  stands  out  even  in  an  age  when  human  life  was 
not  valued  very  highly,  and  when  the  infliction  of  bodily 
pain  was  scarcely  considered  a  sin. 

During  the  Crusades  there  had  sprung  up  various 
military  orders  of  warriors  pledged  to  live  apart,  never 
to  marry,  and  to  spend  their  lives  in  the  Holy  War.  Of 
these  the  Order  of  the  Temple  was  the  most  famous. 

The  long  white  robe  of  the  Knights,  with  its  red 
cross,  had  figured  on  every  battle-field  of  the  East,  and 
every  country  of  Christendom  had  branches  of  the  same 
institution.  Paris  was  the  centre  of  the  Order.  In  the 
busiest  part  of  the  old  city,  north  of  the  river,  the  Kue 
du  Temple  runs  through  what  was  once  the  quarter 
owning  the  jurisdiction  of  this  body,  and  where  the 
Temple  itself  stood.  But  every  institution  is  liable  to 
abuses,  and  pride  and  wealth  had  long  been  reckoned  the 
darling  sins  of  the  Templars.  There  is  no  doubt  that 
the  Order  had  become  enormously  wealthy,  their  treasure 
was  rumoured  to  have  reached  unheard  of  proportions, 
and  the  magnificence  of  the  Temple  rivalled  that  of  the 
royal  palace.  The  Crusades  were  now  over,  and  whilst 
the  Knights  of  St.  John  had  established  themselves  in  the 
Island  of  Ehodes,  and  the  Teutonic  Knights  had  found 
occupation  for  their  arms  in  Prussia,  the  Templars 
still  stood  idle,  a  tempting  prey  to  the  greed  of  the 
French  King.  Partly  he  wanted  their  money,  partly  he 
envied  their  power,  partly  he  feared  lest  the  Pope  should 
find  in  them  a  champion,  possibly  a  little  genuine  beUef 
in  their  depravity  lay  at  the  root  of  his  conduct.  In  any 
case,  for  one  reason  or  another  Philip  determined  on 
their  downfall,  and  when  two  discontented  members  of 


62  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

the  Order  whispered  accusations  against  their  fellows  in 
the  royal  ear,  they  received  a  ready  hearing.  In  1307 
the  Grand  Master,  Jacques  de  Molai,  and  all  the  Knights 
in  France  were  arrested  on  the  charge  of  denying  our 
Lord,  of  worshipping  an  idol,  and  of  being  stained  with 
crime  and  depravity  unspeakable.  The  Pope  was  forced 
to  summon  a  commission  to  examine  into  the  case,  and 
there  followed  a  mockery  of  a  trial.  The  wretched  vic- 
tims were  questioned  under  torture,  and  with  a  few 
noble  exceptions  were  driven  to  admit  the  truth  of  every 
sort  of  accusation,  however  impossible :  almost  without 
exception  they  retracted  their  admissions  as  soon  as  they 
were  released  from  the  agony  of  torture.  Whatever 
foundation  there  may  have  been  for  some  of  the  charges 
against  them,  no  weight  whatever  can  be  attached  to 
such  confessions.  One  Templar  asserted  that  all  he  had 
said  under  torture  was  false,  but  that  he  knew  he  should 
avow  the  same,  if  dragged  as  one  of  his  fellows  had  been, 
to  the  stake.  "I  should  never  be  able  to  resist  the 
terror  of  the  fire,  I  should  confess  that  I  had  killed  God 
if  they  wished  it."  All  was  a  foregone  conclusion,  most 
of  the  Knights  w^re  burnt,  some  few,  who  consented  to 
abide  by  their  confessions,  were  set  free  to  live  as  best 
they  could.  The  Grand  Master  and  the  Preceptor  of 
the  Order  were  the  last  to  perish,  after  seven  years  of 
imprisonment.  Tortured  at  the  first  into  avowals  they 
now  stood  firm.  "  We  are  not  guilty  of  those  things  of 
which  we  are  accused,  but  we  are  guilty  of  having  basely 
betrayed  the  Order  to  save  our  lives.  The  Order  is  pure 
and  holy,  the  accusations  are  absurd,  the  confessions 
false."  So  they  declared,  and  were  burnt  to  death, 
steadfast  to  this  declaration.  Thus  perished  this  great 
Order.     Most  of  its  wealth  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 


FRENCH  HISTORY,  1273-1328  63 

King  and  his  courtiers,  only  a  part  of  it  came  into  the 
possession  of  the  Knights  of  St.  John  to  whom  it  had 
been  formally  made  over.  In  other  countries  suppression 
took  place  at  the  same  time,  and  many  Templars  were 
captured,  but  it  was  in  France  alone  that  such  horrible 
cruelty  was  exercised  during  the  trials. 

The  story  runs  that  Jacques  de  Molai,  from  the  stake, 
summoned  King  and  Pope  to  meet  him  before  the 
Tribunal  of  God 'within  the  year.  A  month  later 
Clement  died  after  dreaming  of  the  destruction  of  his  Death  of 

,  ...  .  ,      Clement 

Papal  palace  m  flames;  m  seven  months  Philip,  with- v.,  1313, 
out  visible  disease,  sank  into  the  grave,  silently  as  he  pj^ji?,  jy. 
had  hved.  ^^^^ 

We  must  turn  to  the  home  government  of  Philip  IV.  Home 
to  understand  the  real  importance  of  his  reign,  and  itSn^eut 
position  in  the  history  of  France.  He  does  not  stand 
alone;  his  work  was  a  continuation  of  that  of  Philip 
Augustus  and  Louis  IX.,  but  it  was  perhaps  at  this 
time  that  feudalism  as  a  basis  of  government  received 
its  severest  check,  and  that  the  King  was  able  to  assert 
most  successfully  his  claim  to  be  direct  lord  of  all  his 
subjects,  not  only  of  his  tenants-in-chief,  and  to  pose  as 
the  source  and  guardian  of  the  law.  In  order  to  do  this 
the  administrative  machinery  was  strengthened  and  ex- 
tended. France  had  already  been  divided  into  bailliages  Local 
and  s6ie'chaussSes,  districts  administered  by  royal  officials, 
bailiffs  in  the  North  and  seneschals  in  the  South.  Philip 
made  no  great  change  in  this  institution,  but  further 
extended  the  functions  of  these  officers,  mostly  members 
or  agents  of  the  royal  Council,  and  gained  from  them 
a  knowledge  of  local  affairs  throughout  the  Kingdom. 
As  representatives  of  royalty  they  had  power  over  justice, 
finance  and  provincial  administration  of  all  sorts,  and 


64  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

were  able  to  act,  therefore,  as  a  very  real  check  on  the 
country  nobility. 
Central  To  help  him  in   central  government  the  King  had 

his  Cour  du  Boi,  and  in  this  various  important  changes 
took  place.  Originally  it  was  merely  a  court,  such  as  any 
great  lord  might  have  to  manage  the  affairs  of  his  own 
demesne.  Under  Philip  Augustus,  in  cases  where  nobles 
might  be  brought  before  it  to  be  tried,  since  they  had 
to  be  tried  by  their  equals,  great  vassals  were  added  and 
it  was  transformed  into  a  court  of  peers.  Under  Louis 
IX.  trained  lavryers  were  introduced,  and  it  became  a 
more  efficient  part  of  the  government,  helping  the  King 
in  every  part  of  the  administration,  as  also  in  justice 
and  finance.  It  was  the  aim  of  Philip  IV.  to  make  this 
court  still  more  efficient  and  still  more  of  a  check  on 
the  nobles.  Every  feudal  baron  had  of  course  his  own 
demesne  court,  and  one  of  the  great  differences  between 
French  and  English  feudalism  had  been,  that  in  France 
all  the  great  nobles  had  rights  of  "  high  justice,"  could 
hear  appeals  from  the  courts  of  their  sub-tenants,  and 
could  make  final  decisions,  appeal  to  the  King  only  being 
made  in  cases  where  the  Suzerain  refused  to  do  justice, 
not  when  complaint  was  made  against  the  justice  which 
he  had  done.  Phihp  IV.  however,  insisted  on  appeals 
being  brought  from  the  local  courts  of  the  nobles  to  his 
own  court,  and  there  were  now  certain  cases  known  as 
cas  royaux,  which  had  to  come  in  the  first  instance 
before  the  royal  hearing  :  treason,  infringements  of 
safe-conduct,  or  of  privileges  granted  by  the  King, 
tampering  with  the  coinage  and  such  like.  Besides  this 
great  increase  of  business,  the  legal  element  in  the  Cour 
dti  Boi  was  very  much  increased,  and  business  was  more 
and   more   taken   from   the  hands  of   nobles   and  put 


FKENCH  HISTORY,  1273-1328  65 

into  those  of  professional  lawyers.  All  this  work  could 
scarcely  be  performed  by  one  court.  Accordingly  in 
1302  three  divisions  were  estabHshed,  each  with  its  own 
distinct  functions  and  separate  officials.  The  Gonseil  clu 
Roi,  rather  like  our  Privy  Council,  was  chiefly  to  help 
the  King  in  the  actual  administration  of  the  country, 
but  it  still  retained  the  right  of  hearing  judicial  appeals 
in  the  very  last  resort.  The  Chamhre  des  Comptes  had 
control  of  all  financial  business,  while  the  judicial  work 
was  handed  over  to  the  Parliament  of  Paris,  the  great 
French  law  court,  which  did  much  the  same  work  as 
our  courts  of  King's  Bench  and  Com7non  Pleas.  Later  the 
privilege  was  added  of  registering  all  royal  edicts  ;  a  duty 
at  first  merely  formal,  but  which  was  one  day  to  lead  to 
claims  of  discussing  this  legislation  and  of  objecting 
to  it  and  even  of  vetoing  it.  At  present,  however,  the 
Parliament  was  purely  a  judicial  court.  Philip  IV.  fixed 
this  Parliament  at  Paris,  divided  it  into  three  sections 
and  made  it  meet  regularly  twice  a  year ;  very  shortly 
after  it  was  changed  into  a  permanent  body,  and  its 
members  were  appointed  for  life. 

Besides  strengthening  the  central  and  local  machinery  states- 
of  administration,  Philip  has  also  made  himself  famous  fg^Qg™^' 
by  summoning  what  has  been  called  the  first  States- 
General  ;  that  meeting  in  1302  of  which  we  have  already 
spoken  as  sending  a  message  to  Boniface  VIII.  National 
assemblies  of  some  sort  had  been  held  in  past  times 
under  the  Carolingians,  very  probably  all  three  orders 
had  been  summoned  before  under  these  early  Monarchs, 
but  no  meeting  has  been  fully  described  by  the  chroniclers 
before  this  one  of  1302,  which  was  more  remarkable,  both 
on  account  of  its  numbers  and  the  importance  of  its 
business,  than  any  which  had  preceded  it.  All  tenants- 
5 


66  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

in-chief  of  the  Crown,  lay  and  ecclesiastical,  were 
summoned,  representatives  of  lower  clergy  also,  and 
burgesses  from  all  the  principal  towns.  Possibly  the 
example  of  the  English  Parliament  of  1295  had  some 
influence  upon  the  composition  of  this  Assembly.  It 
was  there,  however,  simply  for  the  royal  convenience  and 
to  give  the  King  support :  there  was  no  general  dis- 
cussion, the  meeting  only  lasted  a  day,  the  members 
were  told  by  Pierre  Flotte  what  was  expected  of  them, 
and  then  each  estate  drew  up  separately,  according  to 
order,  their  messages  of  defiance  to  the  Pope.  There 
were  other  States-General  later  in  the  reign,  when 
Philip  wanted  support  in  the  affair  of  the  Templars  and 
for  war  with  Flanders,  but  the  same  character  was 
always  visible :  the  King  summoned  his  people,  not  to 
consult  them  nor  to  learn  their  wishes,  but  to  strengthen 
himself  by  a  general  support,  to  influence  the  Assembly 
by  his  presence,  and  to  bind  the  whole  nation  to  his 
cause. 

It  will  be  seen  from  this  account,  how  very  closely 
the  work  of  Philip  IV.  resembled  that  which  Edward  I. 
was  dd!ng  almost  at  the  same  time  in  England.  Both 
carried  on  the  reforms  of  their  predecessors  instead  of 
following  new  lines  of  their  own ;  both  diminished  the 
powder  of  the  nobles,  by  undermining  feudal  independence 
and  by  strengthening  the  central  administration ;  both 
turned  to  the  people  for  help  in  their  undertaking.  Yet 
through  all  this  resemblance  there  was  one  great  under- 
lying difference,  which  was  to  lead  to  widely  divergent 
results.  In  France  everything  came  from  the  Crown, 
and  everything  was  done  for  the  Crown  :  it  was  the 
Crown  alone  which  was  to  gather  to  itself  all  the  power 
and  also  all  the  responsibility.     In  England  free  local 


FRENCH  HISTORY,  1273-1328  67 

govemment  had  been  a  real  thing  from  the  earliest  times, 
and  Edward  made  use  of  these  free  local  institutions  to 
help  on  his  work  :  his  Parliament  was  a  collection  of 
local  representatives,  and  his  poHcy  was  national  not  only 
selfish.  Philip  managed  the  localities  by  royal  officials, 
he  ruled  the  country  by  royal  courts  and  subjected  the 
nobles  to  royal  justice  ;  even  when  apparently  he  turned 
to  the  nation,  it  was  merely  as  royal  supporters,  to  be 
summoned  when  he  needed  help  and  simply  for  the  pur- 
pose of  giving  it.  Thus  work  so  similar  in  appearance 
was  to  lead  in  England  to  the  growth  of  popular  govern- 
ment, in  France  to  the  development  of  the  despotism  of 
the  Crown. 

A  word  must  be  said  before  leaving  Philip  IV.  on  one  Fiuauciai 
very  bad  side  of  his  government,  namely  his  financial  tion 
administration.  Always  in  want  of  money,  he  resorted 
to  very  mistaken  ways  of  raising  it.  He  levied  heavy 
taxes  on  sales  of  goods,  thus  hampering  trade  and  com- 
merce ;  he  met  present  distress  by  adding  to  future 
difficulties  through  his  system  of  farming  out  the 
taxes ;  that  is,  in  order  to  gain  a  sum  of  money  at  the 
moment  he  sold  to  all  sorts  of  people  the  right  of  levy- 
ing imposts,  a  plan  which  resulted  in  much  oppression 
and  misery  for  the  tax-payer.  Above  all,  so  constant 
was  his  debasement  of  the  currency,  that  he  earned  for 
himself  the  name  of  the  "false  coiner".  Unfortunately 
for  France  the  methods  thus  adopted  were  continued 
only  too  faithfully  by  succeeding  monarchs. 

The  immediate  successors  of  Philip  the  Fair  need  only 
be  shortly  mentioned.    His  son  Louis  X.  died  without  aLouis  X., 
male  heir,  and  his  daughter  Joan  was  passed  over  in  ^^i^-i-^i*^ 
favour  of  his  brother  Philip  V.     It  was  the  fear  at  this  phiUp  v., 
time  of  being  ruled  by  a  woman  which  led  to  the  inven- 


68  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

tion  of  a  rule  to  prevent  female  succession  to  the  throne 
of  France.  The  French  lawyers  hunted  up  an  old  law  of 
the  Salian  Franks,  forbidding  the  inheritance  of  women 
in  the  Sahc  land ;  this  was  applied  to  the  Crown,  to 
suit  the  convenience  of  the  moment,  and  dignified  by  the 
name  of  the  Salic  law,  became  regarded  as  an  ancient  rule 
of  succession  to  the  French  Monarchy.  When  PhiHp 
V.  died  he  again  left  only  daughters,  and  since  the  third 
brother  Charles  IV.  succeeded  without  difficulty,  the  idea 
of  the  exclusion  of  women  was  still  further  strength- 
Charles      ened.    When  Charles  IV.  died  and  the  direct  Capet  line 

IV    132*^  ■ 

1328  "  came  to  an  end,  a  far  more  complicated  question  arose, 
since  there  was  a  possible  heir  whose  claims  had  come 
to  him  through  a  woman,  namely  Edward  III.  of  Eng- 
land. The  French,  however,  did  not  desire  the  rule  of 
any  foreign  King,  and  the  nearest  heir  on  the  male  side, 
Philip  of  Valois,  a  cousin  of  the  last  three  monarchs, 
was  crowned  as  Philip  VI. 

ADDITIONAL  BOOKS 

Kitchin  :  History  of  France,  voL  i. 

Gustave  Masson  ;  Medkeval  France  ("  Story  of  the  Nations  "). 


FRENCH  HISTORY,  1273-1328 


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CHAPTEK  IV 

ITALY,  1313-1378 

Italy  in  t!ie "  I  ^HE  fourteenth  century  seemed  to  bring  with  it 
centurj"  '  ^  some  prospect  of  peace  for  Italy.  In  1305  the 
Papal  Court  was  transferred  to  Avignon  in  the  County 
of  Provence ;  in  1313  with  the  death  of  Henry  VII.  the 
last  effort  to  assert  real  Imperial  authority  in  Italy  had 
been  brought  to  a  close.  Surely  some  cessation  of  strife 
might  be  expected  from  the  removal  of  the  two  chief 
rivals,  the  two  claimants  for  universal  rule ;  Italians 
might  surely  hope  to  work  out  their  own  salvation  freed 
from  direct  interference  of  Pope  and  Emperor.  If  such 
a  hope  ever  existed  it  was  doomed  to  disappointment ;  the 
strife  of  Guelf  and  Ghibelline  cdlitinued  as  hotly  as  ever  ; 
the  Popes  still  continued  to  direct  Italian  politics,  with 
even  less  knowledge  than  before  perhaps  of  Italian  in- 
terests ;  the  Emperors  still  interfered  in  Italy,  not  so 
much  now  for  their  own  power,  not  at  least  with  the 
same  idea  of  Imperial  greatness,  but  merely  as  the  tool 
of  an  Italian  faction. 
Divisions  The  chief  feature  of  Italian  history  in  this  century  is 
as  before  the  divided  condition  of  the  country  and  the 
consequent  dissensions  and  disputes  which  resulted  from 
it.  To  this  is  now  added  the  absence  of  the  Popes,  their 
close  connection  with  France  and  French  interests,  and 
the  turbulent  state  of  their  own  dominions,  especially 
of  Rome  where  families  and  parties  warred  more  fiercely 
than  ever. 

70 


ITALY,  1313-11578  71 

In  the  City  States  of  Tuscany  and  Lombardy,  this 
century,  still  full  of  feuds  and  party  strife,  was  particu- 
larly marked  by  the  rise  of  "tyrants,"  or  supreme  Tyrants 
rulers,  in  one  town  after  another.  The  tendency  was  for 
the  head  of  the  faction  for  the  time  being  to  gain  sway 
by  his  warlike  successes  or  skill  in  government,  unless 
his  subjects,  tired  of  despotism,  were  able  to  shake  them- 
selves free  from  his  control.  Gradually  the  feuds  of  State 
with  State  were  leading  to  the  absorption  of  the  smaller 
cities  by  their  more  powerful  neighbours,  until  Venice, 
Milan  and  Florence  in  particular  stand  out  amongst  the 
rest,  and  form  the  centres  of  large  and  compact  terri- 
tories. As  a  great  man  or  a  great  State  comes  more  pro- 
minently forward,  the  question  is  always  present  as  to 
whether  there  is  a  chance  of  uniting  the  whole  of  Italy 
into  one  dominion  ;  but  though  the  hope  of  doing  this 
might  inspire  great  ambitions  and  encourage  many 
efforts  at  aggrandisement,  the  time  was  not  yet  come  for 
success. 

One  new  development  appears  at  this  period,  which 
was  to  lead  to  disastrous  results.  Partly  owing  to  the  rise  Rise  of 
of  despots,  the  old  military  system  was  gradually  changed. 
In  former  days  every  male  inhabitant  of  suitable  age 
had  fought  for  his  State  when  required  ;  local  bands 
rallied  round  the  carroccio  or  city  standard,  and  a  martial 
spirit  was  spread  throughout  the  whole  people.  A  rul- 
ing tyrant,  however,  was  not  anxious  to  arm  his  subjects, 
and  turned  with  relief  to  mercenary  troops,  foreigners 
hired  to  form  a  body-guard,  who  could  be  used  to  quell 
revolts  and  to  maintain  authority.  These  troops  were 
easily  collected  at  first,  from  the  many  soldiers  left  in 
the  country  after  the  various  descents  made  into  Italy 
by  French  or  German  armies.     On  the  death  of  Henry 


72        THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

VII.  some  of  his  disbanded  troops  were  ready  to  stay  in 
the  country  and  adopt  war  as  their  trade,  and  Itahan 
citizens  gradually  came  to  prefer  the  payment  of  taxes 
for  the  support  of  foreign  armies,  to  the  loss  of  time  and 
disturbance  to  work  which  resulted  from  going  out  to 
fight  in  person.  These  hired  bands  under  Condottieri, 
leaders,  that  is,  who  made  war  their  trade,  at  first  almost 
exclusively  composed  of  foreigners,  towards  the  close  of 
the  century  were  often  made  up  of  native  troops.  Some 
young  Italians  did  not  appreciate  a  purely  peaceful  life 
and  were  eager  to  win  renown  in  arms ;  others,  the  mem- 
bers especially  of  smaller  and  subject  communes,  being 
deprived  of  that  share  in  political  life  which  was  the 
privilege  and  occupation  of  most  members  of  the  larger 
States,  turned  to  a  military  career.  Eepublics  were  thus 
forced  to  adopt  the  system  of  hiring  soldiers.  The  old 
civic  forces  of  infantry  were  quite  inadequate  to  face  the 
heavy  cavalry,  of  which  these  new  troops  were  generally 
composed,  and  soon  all  States  had  standing  armies  of 
mercenaries  with  which  to  fight  their  battles.  The  real 
danger  of  these  mercenaries  appeared  when  their  leaders 
began  to  cast  off  dependence,  and  to  form  armies  of  their 
own,  which  lived  upon  the  unfortunate  country  in  time 
of  peace,  and  let  out  their  services  in  time  of  war  to  the 
highest  bidder.  These  Great  Companies  were  swelled 
after  1360  by  many  soldiers  from  France,  deprived  of 
occupation  by  the  Treaty  of  Bretigny.  An  English- 
man, John  Hawkwood,  whose  tomb  and  monument  can 
be  seen  in  the  Cathedral  of  Florence  at  the  present  day, 
won  great  celebrity  as  oondottiere  of  the  "  White  Com- 
pany ".  Aided  by  these  forces,  the  Italian  States  con- 
tinued their  old  wars  unceasingly ;  all  idea  of  fighting 
for  a  cause,  such  as  that  of  Pope  or  Emperor,  entirely 


ITALY,  UU3-1378  73 

disappeared,  and  each  State  fought  openly  and  selfishly 
for  its  own  hand,  for  territorial  aggrandisement  and  for 
the  subjection  of  its  weaker  neighbours. 

In  1313,  when  the  death  of  Henry  VII.  saved  Flor-  Parties  of 

"^  .  Giielt  and 

ence  from  threatened  destruction,  the  parties  of  Guelt  Giubeiiine 
and  GhibeUine  were  almost  evenly  divided  ;  both  were  "eciX  cen- 
equally  selfish,  and  ready  to  adopt  any  expedient  to  in-  ^'^""^ 
crease  their  own  ascendency. 

Eobert  of  Naples  backed  up  by  the  Papacy  was 
leader  of  the  Guelfs.  and  Florence  with  its  dependent 
communes  was  a  firm  supporter  of  this  party.  The 
Ghibelhnes  were  strongest  in  the  North,  where  the 
Lombard  towns  figured  as  Imperial  cities ;  while  in 
Tuscany,  Pisa  was  a  zealous  advocate  of  the  same  policy. 
Many  of  these  towns  were  under  the  power  of  despots, 
who  felt  that  in  Ghibellinism  they  had  more  hope  of 
independence,  or  who  derived  their  authority  from  Im- 
perial grants.  In  Milan,  Matteo  Visconti  had  been  made  Tyrants 
Imperial  Vicar  by  Henry  VII. ;  in  Verona  and  Vicenza, 
Cangrande  della  Scala  had  acquired  the  same  position. 
Both  were  very  powerful  lords  and  great  supporters  of 
the  Ghibelline  party. 

The  EepubHc  of  Pisa  fell  under  the  authority  of   a  Florence 
mihtary  leader  of  great  strength,  Uguccione  della  Fag-  *"'^  ^^^^ 
giuola,  who  subjected  Lucca  also  and  threatened  the 
supremacy  of  Florence  in  Tuscany  to  such  an  extent 
that  she  appealed  for  help  to  Robert  of  Naples.     An 
army  was  formed  under  his  brother,  Philip  of  Tarento, 
to  rescue  Montecatini  which  the  Pisans  were  besieging.  Battle  of 
Before  this  place  a  battle  of  great  violence  took  place  tini 
between  the  rival  cities.     The  Florentines  were  stub- 
born and  resisted  long  and  resolutely ;   but  Faggiuola 
was  a  captain  of  extraordinary  ability  and  was  roused 


74  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

to  almost  superhuman  energy  by  the  loss  of  his  son  in 
the  fight.  Dashing  into  the  thickest  of  the  fray,  shout- 
ing "no  prisoners,  no  prisoners,"  he  inspired  an  attack 
so  fierce  that  at  last  the  enemy  wavered,  and  the  Pisans 
were  left  victorious  on  the  field.  The  effect  of  this  battle 
on  the  Florentines,  was  not  so  much  to  discourage  them, 
as  to  raise  a  spirit  of  opposition  to  Naples,  which  they 
felt  had  not  aided  them  sufficiently.  They  were  saved 
from  immediate  danger,  however,  by  the  fall  of  Faggiuola, 
whose  power  had  roused  enemies  both  in  Pisa  and 
Lucca,  especially  one  of  his  own  generals,  Castruccio 
Castracani.  A  revolt  was  very  carefullj'^  planned  to  take 
place  while  the  dreaded  leader  was  midway  between 
Pisa  and  Lucca.  The  conspirators  at  Pisa  managed  to 
collect  all  the  townsmen  together  without  exciting  sus- 
picion by  means  of  a  trick.  They  let  loose  a  bull,  which 
they  pursued  through  the  streets,  until  a  crowd  was 
collected  in  one  of  the  squares  of  the  town,  whereupon 
they  brandished  the  weapons  hitherto  concealed,  pro- 
claimed death  to  the  tyrant,  and  heading  the  easily  ex- 
cited citizens  drove  Faggiuola's  adherents  out  of  the 
place.  Lucca  rose  the  same  day  ;  the  deserted  tyrant 
took  refuge  at  Verona  and  abandoned  his  dream  of 
founding  a  supremacy  in  Tuscany.  In  1317  a  general 
peace  was  signed  between  the  warring  States. 
Ambitions  Kobert  of  Naples,  who  had  negotiated  this  settlement, 
of  Naples  ^^^  doubtless  hopes  in  his  turn  of  Tuscan  supremacy, 
or  even  of  the  headship  of  Italy.  He  had  been  made 
Imperial  Vicar  by  the  Pope  and  the  ruling  Pontiff,  John 
XXII.,  was  practically  his  creature.  Divisions  in  the 
Empire  made  interference  from  that  quarter  unlikely, 
and  he  was  leader  of  the  Guelf  cities  of  Tuscany.  In 
1825  Florence  offered  him  lordship  over  herself,  an  offer 


ITALY,  1313-1378  75 

which  he  accepted  for  his  eldest  son,  Charles  of  Calabria, 
who,  as  was  usual  then,  held  the  southern  part  of  the 
Kingdom  as  a  Duchy.  This  step,  however,  was  due  to 
danger  from  a  new  quarter,  a  danger  which  was  to  in- 
volve the  King  of  Naples  also,  and  render  the  execution 
of  his  designs  still  more  difficult. 

The  fall  of  Faggiuola  in  Pisa  was  followed  by  the  rise  Castruccio 

Oistrfic3.iii 

of  Castruccio  in  Lucca,  the  most  formidable  of  all 
Italian  despots  and  the  most  celebrated  captain  of  the 
time.  Villani  says  of  him:  "This  Castruccio  was  in 
person  tall,  dexterous  and  handsome  ;  finely  made,  not 
bulky,  and  of  a  fair  complexion,  rather  inclined  to  pale- 
ness :  his  hair  was  light  and  straight  and  he  bore  a  very 
gracious  aspect.  He  was  a  valorous  and  magnanimous 
tyrant,  wise  and  sagacious,  of  an  anxious  and  laborious 
mind  and  possessing  great  military  talents.  .  .  .  He  was 
very  cruel  in  executing  and  torturing  men,  ungrateful 
for  good  offices  rendered  to  him  in  his  necessities, 
partial  to  new  people  and  vain  of  the  high  station  to 
which  he  had  mounted,"  In  spite  of  the  contradictions 
in  the  character  of  this  tyrant  of  Lucca,  there  is  no  doubt 
of  his  ability  nor  of  the  adoration  he  inspired  amongst 
his  soldiers.  Successful  in  every  enterprise  he  made 
himself  master  over  a  great  part  of  Tuscany,  and  was 
feared  by  every  Prince  and  town  throughout  Italy. 

It  was  dread  of  Castruccio's  growing  power  which 
caused  Florence  to  put  herself  under  Neapolitan  rule ; 
and  the  appeal  of  the  Florentines  to  Kobert  of  Naples 
led  the  Ghibellines  in  their  turn  to  look  for  help  from 
the  Emperor,  Lewis  of  Bavaria. 

Lewis  had  been  occupied  until  the  battle  of  Mlihldorf  Lewis  the 
in  struggling  against  the  rival  claimant,  Frederick  of^*^*^™" 
Austria.    The  capture  of  Frederick  at  this  battle  secured 


76  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

his  authority,  which  was  rendered  all  the  more  complete 
by  the  agreement  made  later  between  the  two  rivals. 
They  soon  became  so  friendly  that  they  are  said  to  have 
eaten  at  the  same  table,  shared  the  same  bed  and  even 
talked  of  partitioning  the  Empire  between  them.  The 
establishment  of  Lewis  in  Germany  was  a  great  blow  to 
the  Pope,  who  claimed  to  exercise  all  Imperial  rights 
dm-ing  an  interregnum,  and  to  have  the  power  of 
sanctioning  or  rejecting  an  elected  Emperor.  The  re- 
sult was  bitter  antagonism  between  John  XXII.  and 
the  Bavarian,  who  took  the  opportunity  offered  by  the 
invitation  of  the  Italian  Ghibellines  to  come  into  Italy 
and  receive  the  crowns  of  Lombardy  and  Kome. 
Lewis  in  Lcwis'  first  act  was  to  overthrow  Galeazzo  Visconti 
Italy,  1327  ^^  ]y[i]an^  despite  the  fact  that  he  was  his  host  and  an 
important  Ghibelline  leader ;  he  imprisoned  him  with 
his  two  sons  and  re-established  a  so-called  republican 
government  under  an  Lnperial  Governor.  Castruccio 
Castracani  was  amongst  the  first  to  join  the  invader, 
he  became  his  captain  and  right-hand  man,  and  was  form- 
ally declared  Duke  of  Lucca,  Pistoia  and  Volterra.  At 
Crowned  at  Kome  the  Empcror  was  crowned  in  the  absence  of  the 
Rome,  1328  p^^g  |^y  ^^ie  people  of  Eome,  in  a  ceremony  unique  and 
impressive.  He  himself,  magnificently  clothed  in  white 
satin,  bestrode  a  white  horse;  before  him  rode  a  judge 
with  the  book  of  Imperial  laws,  and  a  prefect  with  the 
Imperial  sword.  His  horse  was  led  by  the  greatest 
nobles  of  Kome,  their  robes  shining  with  gold.  The 
Emperor  was  anointed  by  two  excommunicated  Bishops 
and  crowned  by  the  old  Sciarra  Colonna,  who  had  been 
prominent  in  the  attack  on  Boniface  VIII.  at  Anagni. 
Castruccio  was  knighted  on  the  same  day  and  made 
Senator  of  Eome  in  the  name  of  the  Emperor.     The 


ITALY,  1313-1378  77 

coronation  was  followed  by  a  public  deposition  of  Pope 
John  XXII.  as  a  heretic  and  a  traitor,  and  the  appoint- 
ment of  an  Anti-pope  under  the  name  of  Nicholas  V. 

The  triumph  of  Lewis  was,  however,  short-lived.  Cas- 
truccio  had  to  hurry  North  to  defend  his  Duchy  from 
the  Florentines,  and  though  again  successful  in  arms,  Death  of 
his  sudden  death  from  fever  ended  the  terror  of  Florence  Ca|truccio, 
and  robbed  the  Emperor  of  his  chief  support.  In  the 
same  year  Florence  had  another  stroke  of  fortune  in  the 
death  of  Charles  of  Calabria,  whose  assistance  was  no 
longer  necessary,  and  whose  rule  was  becoming  irksome. 
The  Emperor  was  quite  unable  to  make  any  headway 
alone,  he  was  short  of  money  and  anxious  to  return  to 
look  after  his  German  interests.  As  for  his  Anti-pope, 
he  very  quickly  made  humble  submission  to  John  XXII. 
and  gladly  renounced  his  precarious  position.  The  Ghi- 
belline  party  seemed  threatened  with  destruction,  but 
Robert  of  Naples  was  too  downcast  after  the  death  of 
his  son  to  head  the  Guelfs  with  any  energy  and  left  the 
North  to  struggle  alone,  until  a  foreign  Power  once  more 
intervened. 

This  time  a  leader  more  enterprising  and  more  roman-  invasion  of 
tic  than  Lewis  of  Bavaria  was  to  make  an  attempt  at  john  of 
solving  the  problem  of  Italian  politics.    In  1330,  Brescia,  J^o^emia 
besieged  by  Delia  Scala,  the  tyrant  of  Verona,  sent  to 
beg   for  help  from   John  of  Bohemia,  who  responded 
readily   to  the  appeal,  and  threw  himself  with  ardour 
into  the  Italian  struggle. 

The  young  King,  who  became  so  suddenly  an  import- 
ant factor  in  the  affairs  of  Italy,  was  son  of  the  Emperor 
Henry  VII.,  and  one  of  the  most  romantic  figures  of  the 
century.  Handsome  and  chivalrous,  devoted  to  tourna- 
ments and  all  knightly  exercises,  he  was  no  less  famous 


78  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

in  actual  warfare  and  able  to  hold  his  own  in  court  or 
camp.  Elegant  and  polished  in  dress  and  manners,  he 
was  curiously  out  of  place  in  half-civilised  Bohemia, 
over  which  his  father  had  given  him  the  rule.  Indeed, 
unless  kept  there  by  revolts  amongst  his  turbulent  nobles, 
he  spent  little  time  in  his  own  dominions,  but  wandered 
about  like  a  true  knight-errant,  seeking  for  wrongs  to 
redress  or  weak  causes  to  champion.  He  had  aided 
Lewis  the  Bavarian  at  the  Battle  of  Miihldorf,  which 
secured  him  his  Empire.  He  had  made  firm  friendship 
with  the  King  of  France,  a  country  which  particularly 
attracted  him.  He  had  headed  a  Crusade  against  the 
heathen  in  Lithuania.  He  was  delighted  now  to  find 
new  occupation  for  his  arms,  and  to  endeavour  to  continue 
a  work  in  Italy  which  his  father  had  died  in  attempting. 
It  was  a  regular  saying  at  the  time,  that  no  one  could  hope 
to  carry  anything  through,  "  without  the  help  of  God  and 
the  King  of  Bohemia". 
Successes  At  first  it  seemed  as  though  Italy  had  really  found 
Bohemia'  ^^^  saviour.  Mastino  della  Scala  retired  from  Brescia, 
where  John  was  received  with  the  utmost  joy  and  en- 
thusiasm. Banners  and  green  branches  were  waved  be- 
fore him,  music  and  dance  accompanied  his  entrance. 
He  acted  with  great  dignity  and  firmness,  reconciled 
warring  parties  and  recalled  all  who  had  been  exiled 
from  the  city.  Other  towns  hastened  to  welcome  a  con- 
queror who  appeared  to  be  without  any  aim  of  personal 
aggrandisement,  and  was  neither  a  Guelf  nor  a  Ghibel- 
line.  Milan,  Cremona,  Pavia  recognised  him  as  lord  ; 
Parma,  Eeggio,  Modena  and  others  followed ;  every- 
where he  reconciled  the  rival  parties  and  recalled  all 
exiles  irrespective  of  their  politics.  In  Tuscany,  how- 
ever, Florence  was  not  won  over  by  the  new-comer,  but 


ITALY,  1313-1P.7S  79 

continued    to   resist   his  advance.       Meanwhile  John, 
threatened  by  leagues  against  him  in  Germany  and  by 
the  hostility  of  the  Pope  at  Avignon,  was  forced  to  hasten 
back,  and  left  his  Italian  conquests  in  the  charge  of  his 
young  son  Charles.     Friendship  was  soon  renewed  with 
the  Emperor   Lewis,  in    whose  interests  the    King  of 
Bohemia  claimed  to  have  worked,  but  meanwhile  the 
Lombard  towns  were  beginning  to  feel  that  they  had  League 
more  control  than  they  had  bargained  for,  whilst  thejohuof 
Visconti    in    Milan  and    the    Scaligers  in    Verona,  the  Bohemia 
Gonzaga  in  Mantua  and  the  Este  in    Ferrara,  jealous 
of  the  success  of  a  foreign  adventurer,  formed  a  league 
to  undermine  his  power. 

The  young  Charles  proved  his  skill  and  courage  in 
the  victory  of  San  Felice,  but  it  brought  no  lasting 
benefit  to  the  cause,  and  his  father  returning  to  find 
both  parties  in  league  against  him,  gave  up  a  useless 
struggle,  sold  his  possessions,  and  left  Italy  in  a  state 
no  better  than  that  in  which  he  had  found  her.  So 
ended  an  episode  the  chief  result  of  which  was  the 
impression  which  it  left  on  the  mind  of  John's  son,  the 
future  Emperor  Charles  IV.,  who  had  learnt,  by  his 
experience  in  Italy,  the  evils  of  a  divided  government 
and  of  uncontrolled  and  independent  parties.  John  John  of 
withdrew  to  spend  the  remainder  of  his  restless  life  in leavesiLiy 
continuous  fighting,  sometimes  in  his  own  interest, 
sometimes  in  that  of  others.  It  was  in  a  second  crusade 
in  Lithuania  that  he  lost  his  eyesight,  partly  owing  to 
the  climate,  partly  owing  to  the  ignorant  treatment  of 
his  doctors.  The  King  could  not  bear  his  misfortune 
to  be  noticed,  and  would  not  let  it  in  any  way  hinder 
his  incessant  travels  and  career  of  adventure,  which  he 
continued,  until  at  last  he  lost  his  life  at  Cre9y,  fight- 


80  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

ing  for  his  friend  Philip  VI.  of  France.  Carlyle  sums 
him  up  as  :  "a  restless,  ostentatious,  far-grasping,  strong- 
handed  man,  who  kept  the  world  in  a  stir  wherever  he 
was  ". 

In  Italy,  after  the  collapse  of  King  John's  attempt, 
warfare  continued  incessantly :    sometimes  one  power 
would  rise  for  a  time  to  the  top,  only  to  fall  in  turn 
before  another  State  or  another  leader.     At  first  Mastino 
della    Scala  of  Verona   made  himself  supreme  in   the 
North,  but  was  crushed  by  a  league  in  which  Florence 
and  Milan  played  the  leading  part.     Florence,  disap- 
pointed at  the  little  result  this  brought  to  her,  called 
to   her  aid  a  warrior  of   great  reputation,  Walter  of 
The  Duke  Brienne  Duke  of  Athens,  who  was  made  dictator  for 
inFior^-'^^   the  time,  though  he  failed  to  hold    his  position  long, 
ence,  1343  jv^g^t  came  the  extraordinary  advance  of  Milan  under 
The  Vis-     the  House  of  Visconti.     Azzo  Visconti   had   been    an 
Miian*^      active  opponent    of  John  of  Bohemia  and  greatly  ex- 
tended his  own  power  by  joining  leagues  against  him. 
His  successors  one  after  the  other  added  to  the  lands 
of  the  Duchy  of  Milan  and  increased  their  own  import- 
ance by  grand  alliances  abroad  and  unexampled  atrocities 
at  home,  until  it  seemed  with  Gian  Galeazzo  that  the 
height  of  wickedness  and  of  power  had  been  reached, 
and  that  a  kingdom  of  Northern  Italy  might  be  founded 
under  a  tyrant,  the  recital  of  whose  deeds  still  makes 
the  blood  run  cold.     But  of  this  later. 
Rome  If  all  Italy  felt  that  they  had  more  chance  of  striking 

for  their  own  advantage  during  the  absence  of  the  Pope, 
nowhere  was  this  so  obvious  as  in  Eome  itself.  In  the 
Holy  City  confusion  and  discord  was  worse  than  ever. 
The  Orsini  and  the  Colonna  carried  on  their  feuds  and 
their  quarrels  unchecked  ;  open  warfare  was  often  waged 


ITALY,  1313-1378  81 

in  the  streets ;  -the  citizens  were  oppressed  by  both 
parties  alike  and  could  obtain  neither  justice  nor  redress 
from  the  proud  and  selfish  nobles.  Message  after  mes- 
sage was  sent  to  Avignon,  begging  the  return  of  the 
Pope.  John  XXII.  spoke  of  coming,  but  the  attractions 
of  Avignon  and  the  influence  of  the  French  King  were 
too  great,  and  the  whole  of  Eomagna  broke  into  open 
rebellion. 

The  succeeding  Pope,  Benedict  XII.,  was  proclaimed 
Senator  and  Captain  of  the  Eoman  Eepublic,  but  though 
proud  of  the  distinction  he  contented  himself  with  a  vain 
attempt  to  heal  strife  from  afar.  In  the  midst  of  all 
this  misery  and  civil  war,  a  curious  ceremony  took  place 
in  Eome,  which  may  have  helped  to  stir  up  old  memo- 
ries of  greatness  in  the  minds  of  the  people,  and  which 
impressed  one  at  least  of  the  audience  with  a  hope  of  re- 
viving ancient  glories.  A  fellow  citizen  of  Dante,  the 
poet  Petrarch,  whose  writings  were  just  bringing  himpetiarcii 
into  prominence,  was  crowned  on  the  Capitol  with  the  p°g^°^^^'^ 
laurel  wreath,  after  a  lengthy  examination  conducted  byKom^ii34i 
Eobert  of  Naples.  The  procession  to  the  Senate  Hall, 
the  red-robed  youths  reciting  Petrarch's  poems  to  the 
glory  of  the  Eoman  people,  the  Senator  in  green,  the 
poet  with  his  royal  robe  and  laurel  crown  must  have 
offered  an  extraordinarily  impressive  sight  to  the  citizens 
used  to  the  turmoil  and  bloodshed  of  private  feuds. 

Cola  di  Eienzi,  a  spectator  of  this  ceremony,  whose  Rise  of 
youthful  mind  was  stored  with  knowledge  of  the  past    '^"^^ 
splendours  of  Eome  and  with  horror  at  her  present  state 
of  degradation,  came  into  public  notice  shortly  after  this 
event.     Of  humble  parentage,  a  notary  by  profession,  he 
early  attracted  attention  by  his  handsome  person  andEmbassyto 
marvellous  eloquence,  and  was  one  of  an  embassy  sent  ^^^l^^"^^' 
G 


82  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

to  Avignon  to  implore  the  return  of  Clement  VI.  Eienzi 
was  an  inveterate  opponent  of  the  aristocrats,  by  whom 
his  own  brother  had  been  ruthlessly  murdered,  and  full 
of  sympathy  for  the  poor  and  the  oppressed.  His 
speeches  before  the  Pope  excited  much  notice  and  ad- 
miration. All  through  his  hfe  he  had  evidently  the  true 
orator's  gift  of  swaying  men  by  a  word,  an  almost  mira- 
culous power  of  influence  and  attraction.  The  Pope 
honoured  him  with  an  official  post  in  Eome,  and  on  his 
return  from  Avignon,  Eienzi  set  himself  heart  and  soul 
to  prepare  the  way  for  a  democratic  revolution.  Little 
by  little  he  won  over  the  people.  He  excited  their 
minds  by  speeches  and  allegorical  pictures  which  showed 
Eome  in  shame  and  distress  from  which  popular  effort 
alone  could  raise  her.  To  avert  suspicion  until  his 
schemes  were  ripe,  he  played  the  buffoon  before  the 
Orsini  and  the  Colonna,  so  that  they  never  dreamed  of 
his  real  character  and  power.  When  the  time  came  he 
struck  boldly  and  with  promptitude.  On  Whitsunday, 
1347,  having  spent  the  previous  night  in  prayer  and  pre- 
paration, he  headed  a  procession  to  the  Capitol,  where 
he  had  summoned  a  meeting  of  the  people  to  consider 
the  passing  of  new  laws  and  measures  of  government ; 
there  he  swayed  the  crowd  by  his  eloquence,  and  pro- 
claimed an  edict  of  reform  and  retribution.  With  one 
accord  the  assembly  hailed  him  as  their  ruler,  and  gave 
Tribune      \^\j^  fu^  power  over  the  laws  and  government  of  the 

of  the  ^  .  .        °  . 

Roman  Eomau  Ecpublic.  This  revolution  was  accomphshed 
isTt^^  '°'  without  the  shedding  of  one  drop  of  blood  :  struck  as  by 
a  spell,  the  old  Senators  fled  and  many  nobles  hastened 
from  the  city  where  their  power  had  been  undermined. 
Eienzi  took  the  title  of  Tribune  and  proclaimed  himself 
"  Eedeemer  of  the  Holy  Eoman  Eepublic  ". 


Rieuzi 


ITALY,  1313-1378  83 

For  seven  months  the  new  ruler  governed  with  ex- 
traordinary wisdom  and  success.  Peace  was  restored, 
exiles  recalled,  justice  dealt  out  impartially  to  rich 
and  poor  alike.  Rome  was  turned  from  despair  to  the 
height  of  pride  and  happiness.  The  citizens  rejoiced  in 
the  processions  and  display  by  which  the  Tribune  im- 
pressed the  pubhc  fancy.  The  surrounding  territory 
acknowledged  the  overlordship  of  the  Roman  people 
and  even  foreign  courts  received  letters  and  embassies 
announcing  the  establishment  of  a  new  power  in 
Italy. 

Rienzi's  mind  was  full  of  magnificent  ideas,  which  Rienzi's 
though  ambitious  were  not  wholly  impracticable  under  ^'  ^^^ 
existing  circumstances.  His  plan  was  to  summon  to 
the  Capitol  a  parliament  for  the  whole  of  Italy,  to  pro- 
claim the  sovereignty  of  the  Roman  people,  to  confer 
Roman  freedom  on  all  Italian  citizens,  and  to  found  a 
natural  Roman  Empire  under  an  elected  Emperor.  It 
was  more  than  merely  a  fascinating  idea.  The  absence 
of  the  Pope,  the  weakness  of  the  Emperor,  and  the 
divisions  of  Italy  offered  some  real  possibiHties  of  suc- 
cess, but  for  two  great  obstacles :  the  character  of 
Rienzi  himself,  and  the  instability  of  the  Roman  people. 
The  Tribune,  though  a  man  of  wonderful  genius,  energy 
and  enthusiasm,  was  wanting  in  that  steadiness  and 
absolute  sanity  which  are  necessary  for  lasting  work. 
Perhaps  there  was  already  a  touch  of  madness  in  his 
genius ;  perhaps  his  mind  was  unhinged  by  his  unpre- 
cedented success  ;  perhaps  he  was  rather  too  much  of  an 
orator,  too  little  of  a  statesman.  It  is  hard  to  believe 
that  he  was  not  sincere  in  his  love  for  Rome  and  in  his 
enthusiasm  for  the  cause.  But  it  would  have  been 
superhuman  to  have  made  no  mistakes,  and  his   only 


84 


THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 


1347 


Crowned, 
15th  Aug. 
1347 


real  strength  lay  in  the  support  of  the  populace,  a  very 
precarious  foundation  for  permanent  power. 

For  some  time  Rienzi's  position  seemed  secure.  The 
magnificent  ceremonies  in  which  he  indulged  and  which 
have  been  looked  upon  as  foolish  acts  of  vanity,  were 
probably  calculated  to  keep  himself  before  the  public 
notice  and  to  influence  a  people  still  rather  like  children 
and  needing  to  be  impressed  by  public  spectacles.  The 
first  festival  was  for  his  knighthood.  Clad  in  white 
silk  embroidered  with  gold,  the  handsome  Tribune 
passed  through  the  town  accompanied  by  the  Papal 
Vicar,  preceded  by  a  sword-bearer,  and  with  the  standard 
in  the  rear.  In  the  evening  he  bathed  in  the  ancient 
porphyry  basin  in  which  tradition  said  that  the  Emperor  I 
Constantine  had  washed  away  both  his  paganism  and 
his  leprosy.  After  a  night  spent  alone  in  the  Baptistery 
he  was  solemnly  knighted  next  day  by  the  syndic  of 
the  people,  who  bound  round  him  the  girdle  of  his  order 
and  fastened  on  the  spurs  of  gold.  His  coronation  as 
Tribune,  which  followed,  was  equally  magnificent.  He 
received  seven  crowns  to  typify  the  seven  gifts  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  after  the  ceremony  he  issued  an  edict 
conferring  on  all  Italians  the  rights  of  Roman  citizen- 
ship, forbidding  the  entry  of  armed  forces  without  the 
consent  of  Pope  and  people,  and  abohshing  the  names 
of  Guelf  and  Ghibelline. 

This  happened  in  August,  and  in  December  he  was 
a  fugitive.  Perhaps  Rienzi's  most  dangerous  mistake 
was  his  treatment  of  the  nobles.  He  laid  hands  on  the 
leaders  of  the  great  families  at  a  banquet,  and  then, 
with  mistimed  leniency  set  them  free,  after  a  humilia- 
tion which  such  men  could  never  forgive.  A  force  was 
raised  against  him  by  the  Colonna,  who  attacked  Rome, 


ITALY,  1313-1378  85 

and  although  their  defeat  was  complete,  the  victor  lost 
many  adherents  by  his  triumph  and  by  his  undue  exul- 
tation over  the  conquered.  He  fell  >at  last  through  the 
desertion  of  the  fickle  people,  who  were  annoyed  by  his 
taxation  and  frightened  by  the  Papal  denunciation  of 
their  leader,  once  the  friend  of  the  Pope.  Rienzi  seems 
to  have  suddenly  lost  heart.  Without  support  he  could 
do  nothmg  and  he  could  not  bear  to  raise  his  arms 
aerainst  the  people.     On  15th  December  he  abdicated  Abdication 

.  of  E-iciizi 

with   a  suddenness  which    surprised   friends   and  foes  15th  Dec! 
alike.     Papal  authority  and  aristocratic  rule  were  re- 
stored on  the  instant,  and  with  them  the  state  of  anarchy 
and  disunion  from  which  the  Tribune  had  temporarily 
saved  the  city. 

Eienzi  was  not  destined  to  remain  for  ever  in  obscurity.  Rienzi  in 
He  is  said  to  have  spent  the  time  of  his  absence  amongst 
the  Fraticelli,  hermits  dwelling  in  the  mountains  of  the 
Abruzzi,  who  passed  their  lives  in  penitence  and  as- 
ceticism. Here  tradition  relates  that  he  received  a 
divine  message  through  one  of  the  brethren,  urging 
him  to  take  up  pul^hc  hfe  once  more  and  fetch  the 
Emperor  to  Rome,  since  by  this  means  alone  could  his 
Imperial  dreams  be  realised.  Undeterred  by  personal 
danger,   Eienzi   travelled    to  Prague,   the  residence  of  Rienzi 

^      '  .  .         visits 

Charles  IV.,  who  had  succeeded  Lewis  the  Bavarian.  Charles 

•  IV     13'iO 

Here  he  unfolded  his  schemes  with  something  of  his  old  " 
eloquence,  but  with  a  strain  of  mysticism  and  wildness 
which  point  to  his  mind  being  unhinged  by  his  recent 
life  of  sohtude.  Charles  IV.  was  the  last  man  to  be 
stirred  by  visions  of  universal  Empire  and  Italian  re- 
generation. After  keeping  the  ex-Tribune  some  time  a 
prisoner  in  Bohemia,  he  sent  him  to  Avignon  to  defend 
his  Catholic  orthodoxy    and   loyalty  before  Pope  and 


86  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

Imprisoned  Cardinals.     He  was  again  imprisoned  by  Clement  VI.  ; 
^yPope     ly^j^  Innocent  VI.,  who  succeeded,  thought  to  make  use 
of  his  illustrious  captive  to  quell  the  disturbances  which 
were  threatening  the  total  destruction  of  the  capital  of 
the  world, 
state  of  Ever  since  Eienzi's  fall,  Rome  had  been  going  from 

fall  of  bad  to  worse.  Innocent  VI.  had  entrusted  the  rule  to 
^16"=^'  two  Senators,  an  Orsini  and  a  Colonna,  but  their  un- 
popularity was  increased  by  a  famine  which  the  popu- 
lace believed  to  be  the  result  of  governmental  regulations 
concerning  the  sale  of  corn.  One  Senator,  Berthold 
Orsini,  faced  the  mob  and  was  literally  buried  under  the 
heap  of  stones  which  were  flung  at  him :  successors 
were  appointed,  but  order  was  difhcult  to  restore.  In 
1353,  Innocent  commissioned  Cardinal  Albornoz,  a  Span- 
ish prelate,  both  warrior  and  statesman,  to  do  what  he 
could,  and  with  him  sent  the  ex-Tribune,  that  his  know- 
ledge of  Rome  and  the  Romans  might  be  turned  to  ac- 
count. 
Return  of  The  returii  of  Rienzi  was  a  veritable  triumph.  The 
Rome  and  pcoplc  remembered  his  past  greatness  and  welcomed 
h^s^deati,  ^^-^^^  ^g  ^  dehverer.  As  Papal  Senator  he  ruled  with 
much  of  his  old  power  and  for  a  short  time  with  extra- 
ordinary success.  But  Cola's  position  between  Pope 
and  people  was  totally  insecure ;  he  had  little  real  au- 
thority and  no  money.  It  was  his  attempts  to  get 
money  rather  than  the  severity  of  his  rule  which  brought 
about  his  final  downfall.  In  the  popular  revolt  which 
overthrew  him,  the  cry  was  "  Death  to  the  traitor  who 
has  imposed  the  taxes,"  and  this  was  the  real  cause  of 
his  ruin.  The  mob  surrounded  his  palace,  and  shouted 
him  down  when  he  stood  forth  on  the  balcony  to  address 
them.     Had  he  been  allowed  to  speak,  he  might  still 


ITALY,  1313-1378  87 

have  won  them  over,  says  the  Chronicler,  with  un- 
bounded confidence  in  the  eloquence  of  the  Tribune. 
But  he  could  not  speak,  he  could  only  unfurl  the  Koman 
banner  and  point  silently  to  the  golden  letters  "  Senatus 
populusque  Eomanus  ".  Stones  were  flung  at  him,  and 
wounded  in  the  head  he  left  the  balcony,  only  to  find  the 
palace  in  flames  behind  him.  Determined  to  make  one 
more  bid  for  life,  Rienzi  hastily  disguised  himself  as  a 
peasant  escaping  with  plunder.  Eecognised  as  he  was 
passing  the  last  gate,  he  was  seized  and  led  back  to  the 
steps  of  the  palace,  whence  he  had  so  often  pronounced 
condemnation  upon  his  enemies.  In  silence  he  faced  the 
mob,  his  arms  crossed  on  his  breast.  None  ventured  to 
touch  the  man  who  had  done  so  much  for  Rome,  and 
silence  gradually  fell  on  the  turbulent  throng.  It  was 
only  when  he  opened  his  lips  to  address  the  speechless 
crowd  that  a  citizen,  fearing  his  eloquence,  thrust  his 
sword  through  the  Tribune's  body.  The  spell  was 
broken.  Others  stabbed  and  mangled  the  helpless  corpse 
and  dragged  it  from  the  Capitol.  For  two  days  it  hung 
from  a  house  in  the  Colonna  quarter,  an  appalling  spec- 
tacle. Then,  by  the  command  of  the  Colonna,  the  body 
was  burnt  by  the  Jews  of  the  city  and  the  ashes  scat- 
tered abroad,  that  no  relic  might  be  left  of  the  last  of 
the  Tribunes.  Rienzi  had  done  much  and  dreamed 
more ;  but  the  promise  and  glory  of  his  early  days  were 
tarnished  at  the  last  by  a  violence  and  want  of  balance 
which  seem  to  betoken  a  mind  unhinged  by  visionary 
imaginings,  and  by  sudden  reversals  of  fortune  sufficient 
to  affect  the  strongest  brain. 

The  feehng  was  more  and  more  gaining  ground,  Desire  for 
that  the  one  thing  necessary  was  the  return  of  the  f^frn*^  ^'^' 
Popes.     Their  lengthened  absence   had   alienated   the 


88  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

majority  of  Italians  and  weakened  Papal  authority  to  an 
unprecedented  extent.  The  Duke  of  Milan  cared  so 
little  for  a  Bull  of  excommunication,  that  he  forced  the 
unlucky  legate  who  brought  it  to  eat  the  parchment 
and  the  leaden  seal.  Fervent  Catholics  longed  for  the 
revival  of  reverent  feelings  towards  a  true  head  of  the 
Church.  Supporters  of  order  hoped  that  Papal  influence 
might  be  exerted  in  that  direction.  The  Popes  them- 
selves felt  that  residence  at  Eome  was  the  only  hope  of 
maintaining  their  secular  authority. 
St.  One  of  the   most  active  advocates  of  Papal   return 

ofSieua  was  St.  Catherine  of  Siena.  This  remarkable  person- 
ality was  one  of  the  few  instances  of  a  saint  who  led 
an  active  public  Hfe,  and  of  a  woman  of  the  people  who 
took  part  in  politics,  and  swayed  nobles  and  rulers 
by  her  influence.  Born  of  humble  parents  in  Siena, 
Catherine  as  a  child  began  to  see  visions  and  dream 
dreams.  When  still  very  young,  she  resisted  the  at- 
tempts of  her  father  and  mother  to  arrange  a  marriage 
for  her  and  made  them  believe  in  her  divine  call. 
Without  leaving  her  home,  she  gave  herself  up  to  a  life 
of  the  greatest  strictness  and  self-discipHne.  She  spent 
more  than  half  the  night  in  prayer,  and  the  rest  on  a 
bed  of  hard  planks.  Her  days  were  given  up  to  work 
amongst  the  poor  and  to  rehgious  exercises.  During  the 
second  epidemic  of  plague,  she  laboured  incessantly  for 
the  rehef  of  the  sufferers,  with  an  utter  disregard  for 
her  own  safety  which  doubtless  helped  her  to  escape 
the  malady.  Despite  her  humble  life  and  apparent  lack 
of  education,  she  came  to  know  many  of  the  chief  people 
of  the  time  and  took  the  greatest  interest  in  public  events. 
The  misfortunes  of  Italy  filled  her  with  grief  and  deter- 
mination to  do  all  in  her  power  to  alleviate  them.    At  one 


ITALY,  1313-1378  89 

time  she  had  great  hopes  of  a  European  crusade,  and  wrote 
to  the  captains  of  condottieri  urging  their  participation 
and  blaming  the  evil  of  their  lives.  She  even  ventured 
to  reprove  Bernabo  Visconti  for  the  wickedness  of  his 
ways  and  his  opposition  to  the  Church.  When  Florence 
revolted  against  the  Pope  and  was  punished  by  excom- 
munication, St.  Catherine  hastened  to  the  city  and 
opened  negotiations  with  the  leaders  of  the  Republic, 
and  it  was  on  a  mission  of  pacification  on  their  behalf 
that  she  first  journeyed  to  Avignon.  It  is  wonderful  to 
read  of  the  influence  exerted  by  this  fragile  being,  still 
little  more  than  a  girl,  whe  came  from  such  humble 
surroundings  to  speak  authoritatively  to  Popes  and 
Rulers. 

Gregory  XI.  was  much  impressed  by  her  speech,  and  St. 
held  many  interviews  with  her ;    but  he  was  a  weak  af  Avignon 
irresolute,  man,  very  reluctant  to  leave  the  luxury  and 
peace  of  Avignon  for  the  turmoils  and  discomforts  of 
life  in  Rome.     In  the  end,  however,  St.  Catherine  and 
his  conscience,  aided  no  doubt  by  the  fear  of  losing  his 
Italian  possessions  for  ever,  prevailed  to  induce  Gregory 
to  undertake  the  journey.     He   re-entered  his  capital  Return  of 
amidst  much  outward  rejoicing,  which,  however,  meant  p°,me^°i378 
very  little  real  support.    Probably  Gregory  would  never 
have  stuck  to  the  post  of  danger,  but  his  sudden  death 
ended  his  indecision. 

The  Conclave,  summoned  to  meet  for  the  election  Election  of 
of  a  successor,  was  invaded  by  the  mob,  which  broke  i^78^"  ' 
through  all  barriers  and  noisily  demanded  a  Roman  as 
Pope.  Urban  VI.,  who  eventually  was  chosen,  was  in- 
deed an  Italian,  but  little  fitted  by  his  proud  and  pas- 
sionate character  to  rule  in  a  time  of  such  great  difficulty. 
St.  Catherine's  last  days  were  spent  in  a  brave  endeavour 


90  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

to   quiet  the  revolts   against  Urban  in  Kome,  and  to 
pacify  the  disordered  city.     These  efforts  were  too  much 
for  the  httle  strength  her  Hfe  of  exertion  and  ascetism 
had  left  her.     A  fall  in  church,  probably  caused  by  a 
Death  of     fainting-fit,  gave  her  some  internal  injury  from  which 
Catherine,  ^he  never  recovered,  and  she  died  at  Eome  amidst  uni- 
1378  versal  sorrow.     She  had  only  reached  the  age  of  thirty- 

one.  Her  death  saved  her  from  seeing  the  still  greater 
degradation  which  w^as  to  be  brought  upon  the  Papacy 
by  the  long  Schism.  She  could  yet  hope  for  the  success 
Auti-pope,  of  Urban  over  his  rival  Clement  VII.,  who  had  been 
V1TT378  elected  shortly  after  the  Eoman  Pontiff  by  a  section  of 
the  Cardinals,  and  who  was  holding  out  in  Naples,  sup- 
ported by  the  Queen. 

The  fourteenth  century  was,  without  doubt,  a  period 
Disputed  of  great  storm  and  stress  throughout  Italy.  In  the 
in  Naples',  South,  Naples,  whose  King  Bobert  during  the  earlier 
^^^■^  part  of  the  century  had  played  so  leading  a  part  in 

general  affairs,  had  been  plunged  at  his  death  into  a 
dynastic  struggle.  This  kept  her  fully  occupied  at 
home,  and  led  to  important  results  in  the  future.  The 
first  house  of  Anjou  had  split  into  two  branches ;  the 
elder  branch  in  Hungary,  the  younger  in  Naples. 
Joanna  I.,  When  Eobei't  of  Naples  died,  his  grand-daughter  Joanna, 
who  succeeded  him,  had  married  a  Prmce  of  the  Hun- 
garian House  named  Andrew,  a  younger  brother  of 
Lewis  the  Great,  King  of  Hungary.  This  Andrew  did 
not  appreciate  the  position  of  King  Consort,  but  desired 
to  rule  in  his  own  right  as  representative  of  the  elder 
line.  Such  claims  were  not  likely  to  lead  to  harmony 
between  the  married  pair,  who  were  only  sixteen  years 
of  age,  and  who  were  each  flattered  and  urged  on  by 
rival  parties.    Queen  Joanna,  beautiful  and  uncontrolled, 


ITALY,  1313-1378  91 

was  in  love  with  her  cousin  Lewis  of  Taranto,  and 
cared  nothing  for  the  husband  to  whom  she  had  been 
married  for  purely  political  reasons.  A  conspiracy  was 
formed  against  Andrew.  Whether  his  wife  was  privy  to 
it  or  not  is  still  uncertain,  although  the  case  against  her 
looks  suspiciously  black.  He  was  awaked  one  night  on 
pretence  of  important  news,  and  fallen  upon  by  his 
enemies,  who  strangled  him  with  a  silken  cord,  since 
there  was  a  tradition  current  that  he  was  protected 
by  a  charm  from  poison  or  from  steel.  The  actual 
murderers  were  executed  with  horrible  tortures  by 
officials  of  the  Pope,  but  public  rumour  pointed  at  the 
Queen  as  the  true  author  of  the  deed.  Her  marriage 
with  Lewis  of  Taranto,  an  open  instigator  of  the  crime, 
gave  colour  to  this  accusation. 

The  King  of  Hungary,  furious  at  his  brother's  death,  invasion  of 
prepared  to  invade  Naples  with  great  force.    Joanna  lost  Lewifof  ^ 
heart  and  fled  with  her  second  husband  to  Provence,  ^47^^^"^' 
leaving  most  of  her  nobles  to  submit   to  the  invader, 
who  occupied  the  Kingdom  without  a  blow.     This  new 
rule,  however,  did  not  long  prevail  in  Naples.    Lewis  of 
Hungary  could  hardly  govern  the  affairs  of  two  States  Restora- 
so  widely  separated,  and  was  glad  in  the  end  to  resign  j°.",^^/j^ 
the  Italian  Province  to  the  Queen,  after  a  Papal  court  ^^^i 
had  pronounced  her  innocent  of  the  death  of  Andrew. 
This  ended  Neapolitan  diffi.culties  for  the  moment,  but 
Joanna  though  she  had  four  husbands  had  no  children, 
and  as  time  went  on  the  succession  question  became 
acute.     The  Queen's  probable  heir  was  Charles  of  Du- 
razzo,  a  husband  of  her  niece  and  himself  a  distant  re- 
lation ;  but  when  rival  Popes  were  elected  in  1378  great 
discord  arose  between  them,  for  whilst  Joanna  favoured 
the  French  candidate,  Clement  VII.,  Charles  was  an 


92  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

ardent  supporter  of  Urban  VI.  Joanna  hated  opposition 
and  was  eager  for  French  support,  for  which  reasons  she 
turned  to  the  House  of  Anjou  in  France,  and  declared 
Louis,  its  representative,  as  her  heir.  War  broke  out,  in 
the  course  of  which  Joanna  was  captured,  and  as  punish- 
ment for  her  crime,  real  or  supposed,  suffocated  under 
a  feather-bed  by  orders  of  the  old  King  of  Hungary. 
Her  death  left  Charles  of  Durazzo  victorious  for  the 
time  being,  and  he  was  crowned  King  as  Charles  IH.  ; 
the  claims  of  Anjou,  however,  were  not  forgotten,  and 
are  important  as  forming  a  pretext  for  the  invasion  of 
Italy  by  Charles  VIII.  of  France  at  the  close  of  the 
fifteenth  century.  ^ 

Venice  during  the  fourteenth  century  was  gradually 
emerging  from  her  position  of  isolation  and  indepen- 
dence, and  becoming  more  involved  in  Italian  politics  as 
she  enlarged  her  territories  on  the  mainland.  At  the 
beginning  of  this  period,  as  has  already  been  noticed, 
Venice  was  scarcely  part  of  Italy,  had  no  mainland 
territory  and  had  turned  all  her  strength  and  all  her 
interest  to  maritime  and  commercial  matters ;  with  the 
result  that  she  surpassed  all  rivals  in  naval  skill  and 
enterprise,  that  her  eminence  as  a  trading  power  was 
universally  recognised,  and  that  her  wealth  was  un- 
equalled and  of  world-wide  renown.  Petrarch  writes 
of  her  ships  :  "  They  carry  wine  to  England  ;  honey  to 
the  Scythians ;  saffron,  oil,  linen  to  Assyria,  Armenia, 
Persia  and  Arabia  ;  wood  to  Egypt  and  Greece.  They 
return  laden  with  various  merchandise,  which  is  distri- 
buted over  all  Europe."  Not  only  did  the  city  enrich 
herself  with  trading  beyond  the  seas  ;  she  sent  goods 
also  to  Italian  and  German  cities ;  and  her  own  indus- 

^  See  Genealogical  Table. 


ITALY,  1313-1378  93 

tries,  especially  glass-making,  copper  and  iron  working, 
and  bell-founding  were  prosperously  carried  on.  Her 
government,  though  oligarchical  and  despotic,  was 
strong  and  orderly.  It  was  rich  with  the  profits  of 
trading  dues,  salt  monopoly  and  profits  of  banking,  and 
ready  to  look  after  the  welfare  of  the  city  in  a  paternal 
spirit  not  wholly  unsuccessful. 

Thus  Venice  at  the  opening  of  the  fourteenth  century  Rivalry 
was  rich,  powerful  and  prosperous ;  but  already  there  ^^'  ^   ''"'^"' 
were  signs  of  rocks  ahead.     Trade  in  the  East  was  bring- 
ing her  into  conflict  with  the  rising  power  of  Genoa. 
Her  new  idea,  of  extending  towards  the  West,  and  ac- Hostility  of 
quiring  Italian  lands,  could  not  fail  to  arouse  the  antago- powers 
nism  of  the  great  families  by  which  Northern  Italy  was 
increasingly  dominated.     The  first  enemy  of  importance, 
whom  Venice  had  to  face,  was  the  great  lord  of  Verona,  War  with 
Mastino  della  Scala.     The  extension  of  his  dominion  in  1329 
the  North  and  his  policy  of  imposing  custom  duties  on 
her  goods,  alarmed  the  city,  which  was  dependent  on 
the  mainland  for  her  food-supply,  and  dreaded  to  be  cut 
off  from  some  of  her  most  useful  stores.     In  the  war 
which  followed  Venice  won  over  the  Carrara,  lords  of 
Padua,  to  her  side,  began  her  career  of  expansion  by 
the  acquirement  of  Treviso  and  its  district,  and  assisted 
in  overthrowing  the  supremacy  of  the  Scala  family  in 
Verona. 

Another  enemy  who  a  little  later  disturbed  Venetian  War  be- 
tranquillity  was  Lewis  of  Hungary,  jealous  of  the  terri-  Venice  aud 
tory  which  the  city  had  acquired  in  Dalmatia.     Venice  J^ss^*^'^' 
was  not  able  to  get  so  successfully  out  of  this  war,  in 
which  for  the  time  she  lost  land  and  prestige. 

Other  difficulties  which  hampered  Venice  during  this 
century  came  from  plague  and  internal  troubles.     In 


94       THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

Black  1348  she  suffered  so  terribly  from  the  Black  Death  that 
}^3^48^'  more  than  half  the  population  are  said  to  have  perished. 
The  town  passed  through  a  ghastly  period  :  death-boats 
passed  along  the  canals,  the  dead  bodies  were  flung 
from  the  windows  of  the  neighbouring  houses,  and  were 
buried  together  without  distinction  in  a  common  grave. 
In  no  place  in  Italy  was  the  mortahty  greater. 

Troubles  also  arose  from  antagonism  to  the  govern- 
ment, and  vain  attempts  to  shake  the  despotism  of  the 
Council  of  Ten.     The  most  famous  of  these  attempts 
Conspiracy  was  headed  by  the  Doge  himself,  Marin  Faher,  who 
FaUer'"^"     wished  to  dcstroy  the  aristocracy  of  the  city  and  make 
1354-55       himself  uncontrolled  ruler. 

The  plot  was  discovered  through  the  tenderhearted- 
ness of  one  of  the  conspirators,  anxious  to  save  a  friend 
from  the  coming  destruction.  Vengeance  was  prompt 
and  impartial.  Ten  of  the  leaders  of  the  conspiracy  were 
hanged,  and  the  Doge  himself,  whose  complicity  was 
discovered,  was  deprived  of  his  ducal  cap  and  executed. 
His  head  was  struck  off  at  the  top  of  the  marble  stair- 
case, where  he  and  his  predecessors,  on  entering  into 
office,  had  taken  their  oaths  of  fidehty  to  the  Kepublic. 
This  act  of  justic  placed  beyond  question  the  authority 
of  the  famous  Council  of  Ten. 
War  be-  ^^  addition  to  these  difficulties  Venice  had  to  face 
v^ifc  aiid^®^^^'  ^^^  most  dangerous  enemy.  Genoa  certainly 
Genoa  was  no  despicable  rival.  She  had  a  strong  maritime 
position  on  the  mainland,  which  was  strengthened  by 
her  occupation  of  Corsica,  and  she  was  guarded  by  moun- 
tains on  the  north  from  inroads  of  enemies  from  Italy  ; 
whilst  her  profitable  trade  in  the  Black  Sea  was  sufficient 
to  rouse  great  jealousy^n  the  heart  of  the  other  com- 
petitor for  commerce  m  the  East.     On  the  other  hand. 


ITALY,  1313-1378  95 

she  had  endless  troubles  from  internal  factions  and 
family  disputes ;  the  Visconti  in  Milan  were  incessantly 
threatening  her  independence,  and  her  government  was 
less  united  and  strong  than  that  of  Venice. 

Nevertheless,  Genoa  reaped  most  advantage  from  the  First 
first  war  with  her  rival,  which  arose  from  quarrels  in  War°'^i350- 
the  Black  Sea.     She  won  a  great  naval  victory  off  the^^^^ 
island  of  Sapienza ;  and   Venice,  disheartened    by  the  Battle  of 
conspiracy  of  Marin  Falier  at  home,  concluded  peace] 35]*^"^'^' 
and  gave  up  her  demands.     This  great    defeat   of  the 
Venetian  fleet  is  said  to  have  been  presaged  by  all  sorts 
of  portents.     Crows  had  fought  in  the  rigging  of  the  ves- 
sels before  the  combat,  and  plucked  each  other  to  death. 
Enormous    and  unknown   fish   had    swum    round    the 
ships  and  swallowed  seamen  whole,  till  the  crews  were 
filled  with  terror.     Such  tales  show  the  extent  of  the 
calamity  from  the  horror  which  it  excited  at  the  time. 

The  next  struggle  between  Venice  and  Genoa  has  War  of 
gained  the  name  of  the  War  of  Chioggia  from  the y^j^^^2^' 
important  events  which  happened  round  that  town,  a 
place  commanding  one  end  of  the  water-way  leading 
from  the  lagoons  of  Venice  to  the  open  sea.  The 
Genoese  fleet  captured  this  strong  position  and  Venice 
trembled  for  her  own  safety.  The  honour  of  her  rescue 
rests  with  two  great  Venetian  seamen,  Victor  Pisani 
and  Carlo  Zeno,  and  with  the  Doge  himself,  Andrea 
Contarini. 

At  the  time  when  Chioggia  fell  Pisani  was  in  prison, 
suffering  punishment  for  a  recent  defeat,  which  had  been 
in  no  way  his  fault.  The  people,  panic-stricken,  rioted 
in  the  streets.  "If  you  wish  us  to  fight,"  they  cried, 
"  give  us  back  our  Admiral  Victor  Pisani ;  long  live  Vic- 
tor Pisani !  "    The  government  listened  to  their  demands 


96        THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

and  Pisani  was  put  in  command.  Every  Venetian  ves- 
sel available  was  manned,  and  the  Genoese  fleet  was 
driven  back  down  the  narrow  water-way  to  Chioggia, 
where  escape  had  been  prevented  by  blocking  the  out- 
let to  the  open  sea.  Further  measures,  however,  were 
difficult,  for  the  greater  number  of  the  ships  of  Ven- 
ice were  away  in  the  East  under  Carlo  Zeno,  and  to 
retake  Chioggia  without  them  was  an  impossible  task. 
Urgent  messages  were  despatched,  and  the  Doge  was 
obliged  to  say  that  unless  help  came  by  the  New  Year 
he  would  raise  the  siege.  On  the  very  day  fixed  for  the 
surrender,  Carlo  Zeno  and  the  hoped-for  armament  re- 
turned, laden  with  provisions,  and  the  blockade  was  con- 
tinued. At  length  the  combined  effort  of  Pisani  and 
Zeno  was  successful,  and  the  whole  Genoese  fleet  was 
forced  to  surrender  for  lack  of  supplies.  The  following 
year  peace  was  concluded  at  Turin.  Venice  had  saved 
her  own  existence,  but  had  not  been  exactly  successful : 
Peace  of  she  had  to  give  up  Dalmatia,  the  Island  of  Tenidos  and 
""°'  almost  all  the  possessions  she  had  laboriously  acquired 
on  the  mainland.  Despite  these  losses,  however,  the 
Results  ot  really  important  question  had  been  settled  to  the  ad  van- 
struggle  tage  of  Venice.  The  naval  power  of  Genoa  had  received 
a  blow  from  which  it  never  recovered,  and  her  rival  was 
free  from  danger  in  that  quarter.  Internal  troubles  un- 
dermined the  little  remaining  strength  of  the  Genoese 
and  at  the  close  of  the  century  France  undertook  to  gov- 
ern the  once  proud  Eepublic.  Venice,  on  the  other 
hand,  recovered  from  her  exertions  in  a  surprisingly  short 
time,  and  her  trade  became  more  flourishing  than  ever. 
In  the  following  period,  however,  her  ambition  was  in- 
creasingly turned  towards  territorial  expansion,  to  win- 
ning back  and  adding  to  her  possessions  on  the  main- 


ITALY,  1313-1378  97 

land.  Her  later  history  is  chiefly  concerned  with  the 
new  difficulties,  which  such  a  policy  could  not  fail  to 
bring  upon  her. 

ADDITIONAL  BOOKS 

Milman  :  History  of  Latin  Christianity,  vols.  vii.  and  viii.    . 

Sismondi :  Italian  Republics. 

Buhver-Lytton  :  Rienzi,  the  Last  of  the  Tribunes. 


CHAPTER  V 

RISE  OF  THE  SWISS  REPUBLIC 

THE  rise  of  the  Swiss  Eepublic,  even  though  the 
old  tales  of  Tell  and  the  apple,  of  the  wicked 
Gesler,  and  of  the  oath  on  the  Riitli  have  gone  for  ever 
out  of  the  region  of  history  and  are  chiefly  interesting 
to  the  students  of  myth  and  folk-lore,  is  still  a  story 
full  of  picturesque  incident  and  striking  heroism.  It 
is  a  story  of  the  banding  together  of  sturdy  mountain- 
eers, in  the  days  when  simple  country  folk  were  held 
of  little  account,  who,  strong  in  their  longing  for  free- 
dom and  in  the  love  of  their  mountain  home,  were  able 
to  oppose  successfully  kings,  nobles  and  trained  armies, 
and  to  form  an  independent  government  which  has 
held  its  own  down  to  the  present  day. 

In  the  thirteenth  century  there  was  no  such  country 
as  Switzerland.  The  land  we  now  know  under  that 
Swabia  name  was  then  simply  part  of  the  old  Duchy  of  Swabia  ; 
like  the  rest  of  Germany  it  belonged  to  the  Empire,  and 
was  divided  amongst  various  feudal  lords,  holding  their 
lands  as  Imperial  fiefs.  Monasteries  were  very  impor- 
tant in  Swabia  and  much  of  the  country  belonged  to 
them,  those  of  Einsiedeln  and  St.  Gall  being  especially 
renowned.  Many  of  these  religious  houses  had  what 
were  known  as  grants  of  immunity,  which  conferred  the 
privilege  of  holding  directly  from  the  Empire,  not  from 

98 


RISE  OF  THE  SWISS  REPUBLIC  99 

any  intermediate  lord,  and  an  Imperial  bailiff  was  sent 
to  supervise  the  administration  of  justice,  which  was, 
therefore,  never  under  the  control  of  any  Count  of  the 
neighbourhood.  Many  great  nobles  also  had  territory 
in  the  mountain-land,  which  centres  round  the  Lake 
of  Lucerne  and  the  upper  valleys  of  the  Ehine  and 
the  Rhone ;  such  as  the  Counts  of  Savoy,  of  Geneva,  of 
Kiburg,  of  Rapperswell,  above  all  of  Habsburg.  On  a  The  Habs- 
hill  called  the  Wiilpelsberg,  not  far  from  the  town  of  '^^"^^"^ 
Brugg,  a  massive  tower  still  stands  to  perpetuate  the 
memory  of  the  great  family  who  dwelt  in  their  Habichts- 
hurg  or  Hawk's  Castle,  in  the  days  before  the  Empire 
itself  came  under  their  rule. 

In  all  this  there  is  nothing  to  distinguish  this  Alpine  southern 
region  from  any  other  part  of  the  Empire,  or  from  any '  ^^^  '''^ 
other  feudal  country,  but  it  very  soon  began  to  develop 
characteristics  of  its  own.  A  land  of  mountains  is 
never  quite  so  feudalised  nor  quite  so  dependent  as  a 
land  of  plains ;  serfdom  never  seems  to  take  so  deep  a 
root ;  nature  renders  impossible  the  same  amount  of 
control  and  seignorial  management.  This  part  of  Swabia 
was  early  distinguished  by  the  growth  of  communes 
both  in  towns  and  villages.  The  members  of  these  as- 
sociations were  bound  together  by  the  possession  of 
certain  rights  and  privileges  and  obtained  to  a  great 
extent  the  management  of  their  own  affairs.  Town 
communities  and  rural  communities  sprang  up  all  over 
the  country  and  sometimes  the  scattered  inhabitants  of 
a  mountain  valley  would  form  themselves  into  a  union 
of  this  description.  Some  Swabian  towns  were  free  Im-  towus 
perial  cities  from  the  first,  directly  under  the  Emperor, 
and  with  the  right  of  sending  representatives  to  the 
Diet ;   others  were  built  on   the   lands  of  churches  or 


100  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

lords,  but  were  privileged,  although  dependent,  and  often 
shook  off  their  subjection  later.  In  any  case  they  were 
homes  of  comparative  freedom,  and  a  year  and  a  day  in  a 
chartered  town  gave  liberty  to  the  serf  who  could  escape 
thither.  In  Southern  Swabia  the  leading  towns  were 
Zurich,  a  free  Imperial  city  ;  Lucerne,  at  first  under  the 
Abbey  of  Murbach  but  later  independent;  and  Bern 
which  obtained  Imperial  "immunity"  on  the  extinction 
of  the  family  of  Zarringen  by  which  it  was  originally 
founded. 
Country  As  the  towns  w^ere  protected  and  rendered  bold  by 
their  walls,  so  the  valleys  were  given  security  and  in- 
dependence by  their  mountains.  The  inhabitants  of 
these  mountain  valleys,  grouped  into  communes,  were 
drawn  closely  together  by  common  interests,  by  pastoral 
and  agricultural  work  and  by  possession  of  rights  over 
the  allmend  or  mark,  as  the  waste  land  between  the  little 
settlements  was  called,  and  for  use  of  which  as  pasture 
the  whole  commune,  as  a  rule,  would  be  associated. 
Valley  communes  began  to  be  formed  in  Uri,  Schwitz, 
Unterwalden,  Glarus  and  other  districts,  and  httle  by 
little  the  inhabitants  succeeded  in  winning  recognition 
of  their  independence  and  obtaining  charters  of  privileges. 
The  nobles  were  not  likely  to  let  their  authority  go 
struggles  without  a  struggle.  There  were  various  attempts  to 
uovief  *^^  make  the  whole  Duchy  of  Swabia  into  a  united  Princi- 
pality; one  great  family  after  another  tried  to  amass 
more  and  more  territory  into  its  own  hands,  but  none 
tried  harder  nor  with  more  success  than  the  Habsburgs, 
whose  increasing  power  threatened  the  overthrow  of  the 
free  Communes.  The  Communes  looked  to  the  Em- 
peror for  help  against  the  aristocracy;  Uri  was  taken 
under   Imperial   protection  in  1231,  Schwitz    won   its 


RISE  OF  THE  SWISS  EEPTJB'^IC  ,      101      ,  , 

charter  of  immunity  in  1240,  and  in  the  common  fear 
of  oppression  towns  and  districts  began  the  practice  of 
banding  together  to  obtain  strength.  Various  leagues 
were  formed  from  time  to  time.  Bern  united  with 
Lucerne,  Schwitz  with  Unterwalden  and  Uri,  and  then 
the  three  of  them  with  Lucerne  and  Zurich.  These 
were  at  first  only  temporary  leagues,  but  in  this  linking 
of  town  and  country  for  mutual  protection,  we  see  the 
true  beginning  of  the  later  Confederation. 

From  1254  to  1273  was  the  Imperial  Interregnum, 
when,  as  Carlyle  says,  there  was  "No  Kaiser,  nay  as 
many  as  three  at  once  "  ;  a  period  of  terrible  confusion 
and    party  strife  assuredly,  but  nevertheless  an  oppor- 
tunity for  steady  advance  towards  freedom,  whilst   the 
ofreat  men  of  the  land  had  little  time  to  attend  to  humble 
matters.     In  the  end,  as  we  have  seen  elsewhere,  Ru- Rudolf  of 
dolf,  the  head  of  the  Habsburgs,  became  King  of  Ger-  ^^■^^"'^^' 
many  and  Duke  of  Austria  as  well  as  Emperor,  a  very 
important  personage  indeed.     There  was  great  fear  that 
the  whole  of  Southern  Swabia  would  now  come  under 
his  sway  :  he  bought  Friburg,  Neufchatel,  Glarus  and 
other  places,  established  rights  over  Lucerne,  and  sur- 
rounded the  Forest  Cantons  of  Uri,  Schwitz  and  Unter- 
walden,  with    a   cordon   of   his   private   estates.      His 
death  in  1291  was  the  signal  for  the  first  "  Perpetual  pirst  per- 
League,"  in  which  these  three,  Uri,  Schwitz  and  Unter- p^^^^J^^J^ 
walden  laid  the  foundation  of  the  Swiss  Confederation.  I29i 
The  document  commemorating  this  compact,  the  ori- 
ginal of  which  is  now  in  the  Archives  of  Schwitz,  was 
not  exactly  a  declaration  of  independence,  but  a  union 
to  obtain  quiet  and  peace,  security  of  justice,  mutual 
defence,  and  the  settlement  of  quarrels  by  arbitration. 
It  ends  with  the  hopeful  sentence:  "The  above-written 


Austria 


102  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

statutes,  decreed  for  the  common  weal  and  health,  shall 
endure   for  ever,  God  willing".     It   has,  indeed,  never 
been  annulled,  but  only  gradually  outgrown  and  super- 
seded. 
Albert  of        Kudolf's  SOU  Albert,  "one-eyed,  loose-lipped,  unbeau- 
tiful,"  eventually  Emperor,  continued  his  father's  pohcy 
of  amassing  Swabian  territories,  but  was  murdered  by 
his  nephew  at  Brugg  in  1308.     The  Confederates  then 
had  only  to  oppose  Austrian  Habsburgs  not  Emperors, 
the  Imperial  throne  being  occupied  for  a  space  by  the 
House  of  Luxemburg,  which  was  at  enmity  with  the 
War  with   rival  House  of   Habsburg.     The  cause  of   the  actual 
HaS.rgs  outbreak  of  hostiUty  with  this  formidable  family  was 
some  attack  made  by  the  men  of  Schwitz  on  the  Mon- 
astery of  Einsiedeln,  the  reason  of  which  is  obscure. 
In  consequence,  Frederick   Duke  of   Austria  sent   his 
brother  Leopold  to  punish  the  mountaineers.     Leopold 
came  with  an  army  of  nobles  who  despised  the  foe  and 
expected  but  little  difficulty  in  their  task.     The  scene  of 
Battle  of    the*  Battle  of  Morgarten,  where  the  enemies  met,  was 
.^orgar  en,  ^^^  ^midst  very  wild  high  mountains,  but  in  a  hill  coun- 
try of   gentle    slopes  leading   into  Schwitz.     Over   the 
ridge  of  Morgarten  a  saddle  pass  formed  the  approach, 
and  here  the  peasant  army  was  stationed  to  check  the 
Austrian  advance.     Leading  up  to  it  from  the  Lake  of 
Aegeri  was  a  narrow  path,  hemmed  in  by  hills  on  either 
side.     Leopold's  army,  clad  in  the  heavy  armour  of  those 
days,  came  carelessly  along,  so  sure  of  victory  that  their 
attendants  had  been  ordered  to  bring  ropes  to  lead  away 
the  captured  cattle.     One  man  alone  is  recorded  to  have 
reahsed  the  danger.     "  You  have  all  taken  counsel  how 
best  to  get  into  the  country,"  said  the  Duke's  fool,  "but 
have  given  no  explanation  of  how  you  are  going  to  get 


EI8E  OF  THE  SWISS  REPUBLIC  103 

out  again."  Many  had  no  need  of  a  way  out.  Before 
the  Austrians  reached  the  pass,  a  detachment  of  peasants 
hurled  down  upon  them  from  an  advanced  spur  of  the 
ridge  a  regular  avalanche  of  rocks  and  trees,  which 
threw  them  into  the  wildest  confusion  ;  and  at  the  next 
moment  the  rest  of  the  mountaineers  rushed  down  from 
the  pass  and  turned  the  would-be  attack  into  a  rout. 
Utterly  out  of  hand  the  defeated  troops  fled  back,  to  be 
hewn  down  as  they  ran,  or  to  be  drowned  in  the  lake 
into  which  many  were  driven,  absolutely  helpless  in 
their  heavy  armour.  Peasants  on  foot  had  proved  them- 
selves a  match,  in  their  own  country  at  least,  for  an 
army  of  mounted  knights.  The  battle  resulted  in  a 
renewal  of  the  League,  and  three  years  later  the 
Habsburgs  gave  up  their  claim  to  interfere  with  the 
administration  of  the  three  Forest  States. 

Such  success  was  almost  unprecedented  at  that  time,  The  story 
and  it  is  no  w^onder  that  stories  and  traditions  have  Tell 
gathered  round  this  birth  of  Swiss  liberty.  There  were 
certain  to  be  recollections  of  Habsburg  oppression,  of 
cruel  bailiffs  and  of  peasant  heroism :  the  slow  striving 
for  liberty  has  been  converted,  in  the  stories,  into  a 
sudden  rising  and  one  heroic  effort ;  and  these  stories 
have  centred  round  the  deed  of  WiUiam  Tell,  a  deed 
which  can  be  found  repeated  in  the  folklore  of  many 
northern  countries,  Iceland,  Norway,  Denmark  and  even 
England,  where  the  ballad  of  William  of  Cloudesley 
recounts  an  almost  similar  event.  It  was  more  than  a 
century  and  a  half  after  Morgarten  that  the  Tell  legend 
first  appeared  in  a  collection  of  documents  known  as 
the  White  Book :  and  a  later  Chronicler  copied  it  with 
the  addition  of  such  exact  details,  dates  and  names, 
that  it  was  long  looked  upon  as  an  accepted  fact.     The 


104  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

story  runs,  that  Gesler,  the  bailiff  of  Albert  of  Austria 
and  a  monster  of  wickedness,  set  his  hat  on  a  pole  at 
Uri,  that  all  passers-by  might  do  reverence  to  it.  Tell, 
who  refused,  was  brought  before  him  and  ordered  as  a 
punishment  to  shoot  an  apple  from  the  head  of  his  own 
child :  this  he  did  successfully,  but  Gesler  insisted  on 
knowing  why  he  had  placed  a  second  arrow  in  his 
quiver  and  promised  him  his  life  if  he  would  answer  : 
Tell  replied  that  if  he  had  shot  his  child  he  would  have 
slain  with  the  second  arrow  the  bailiff  himself.  Despite 
his  promise,  Gesler  bound  Tell,  and  took  him  over  the 
Lake  of  Lucerne,  to  leave  him  in  a  place  where,  as  he 
said,  he  should  never  see  sun  nor  moon  again ;  but  the 
rock  is  still  shown  at  the  Tellsplatte,  whence  the  prisoner 
leapt  out  and  made  his  escape  :  later  he  revenged  him- 
self by  shooting  Gesler  in  the  Hohle  Gasse  at  Kiissnacht, 
and  became  the  founder  of  the  Federation. 

There  are  other  legends  connected  with  the  resis- 
tance of  the  Swiss,  which  have  rather  more  foundation 
in  fact.  The  secret  conspiracy  of  Stauffacher,  Fiirst,  Zu 
Frauen  and  Melchthal,  their  meetings  at  the  Riitli, 
the  storming  of  the  Castle  of  Sarnen  and  many  others, 
although  probably  much  embroidered  and  placed  by  the 
Chroniclers  at  too  late  a  date,  are  not  wholly  impossible 
and  concern  people  who  really  existed.  It  is  the  story 
of  Tell,  however,  which  has  most  fired  the  popular  im- 
agination, and  he  has  been  so  long  bound  up  with  the 
growth  of  Swiss  independence,  that  he  is  likely  to  retain 
his  place  as  national  hero,  despite  the  cold  light  of 
historical  criticism. 

After  the  Battle  of  Morgarten,  the  Confederation 
gained  new  members  one  by  one.  Lucerne  was  the 
first  to  join  in  1330,  the  allies  agreeing  to  make  no  new 


KISE  OF  THE  SWISS  REPUBLIC  105 

arrangements,  without  the  consent  of  the  whole  body. 
Various  attempts  were  made  to  break  this  connection, 
and  within  Lucerne  itself  a  conspiracy  arose  to  crush 
out  the  patriotic  party.  There  is  a  story  of  a  boy  who 
unwittingly  became  acquainted  with  the  plot  and  was 
only  given  his  life  on  condition  that  he  told  no  man 
what  he  had  heard,  who  revealed  it  without  breaking  his 
promise.  In  the  Butchers'  Guildhouse  he  found  various 
patriots  assembled,  and  going  in  he  sat  by  the  stove 
and  began  to  talk  to  it:  "  Oh,  stove,  stove!  may  I 
speak  ?  "  The  men  laughed  at  him  and  thought  him 
mad,  but  he  went  on  with  his  tale.  "  Oh !  stove, 
stove !  I  must  make  my  complaint  to  thee,  since  I  may 
speak  to  no  man  :  to-night  there  are  men  gathered  under 
the  great  vault  at  the  corner,  who  are  going  to  commit 
murder."  The  alarm  was  thus  given,  the  conspirators 
were  seized  and  the  patriotic  party  was  successfully 
established. 

Zurich  was  the  next  to  join  the  League,  but  she  was  Zurich  and 
not  at  first  a  very  certain  ally,  and  was  inclined  to  playgj'yj^ 
too  much  for  her  own  hand.  She  was  one  of  the  Im- 
perial cities,  free  therefore  from  control  of  count  or 
bailiff,  and  with  the  management  of  her  own  govern- 
ment, which  was,  however,  distinctly  oligarchical.  The 
Old  Burghers,  as  they  were  called,  the  upper  classes  ex- 
cluding artisans  and  labourers,  alone  had  political  rights 
in  the  early  fourteenth  century,  and  a  Council,  entirely 
recruited  from  their  ranks,  awarded  all  places  and  ob- 
tained all  powers.  Considerable  discontent  was  caused 
by  the  despotism  of  this  ruling  body,  and  the  more  demo- 
cratic party  found  a  leader  in  Eudolf  Brun,  himself  an 
aristocrat,  but  a  man  of  great  ambition,  who  was  ready  to 
win  himself  a  name  at  the  head  of  a  popular  movement. 


106  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

Brun  was  recognised  as  Burgomaster,  guilds  were  insti- 
tuted into  which  all  classes  were  admitted,  and  rich  and 
poor  were  alike  given  political  votes.     The  constitution 
was,  however,  far  from  being  democratic,  for  the  Burgo- 
master was  almost  a  Dictator ;  but  the  revolution  raised 
opponents  to  the  town    among   the   partisans  of  Aus- 
Zurieh        tria  to  whom  the  Old  Burgher  party  turned  for  help, 
"League''     and  in  self-defence  Zurich   joined  the   League  of  Uri, 
1351    '      Schwitz,  Unterwalden  and  Lucerne   in  1351.     There 
were  fatal  defects  in  this  new  alhance  ;  for,  thanks  no 
doubt  to  Brun,  the  different  parties  reserved  to  them- 
selves the  right  of  making  independent  alliances,  and 
also  the  four  original  members  pledged  themselves  to 
support  the  existing  government  of  Zurich  if  need  should 
arise.     The  danger  of  such  stipulations  was  seen  in  1354, 
when  Zurich  was  besieged  by  the  Emperor  Charles  IV., 
and  Brun  saved  the  situation  by  hoisting  the  Imperial 
flag  and  declaring  that  the  town  had  always  been  loyal 
to  the  Empire.     Eventually  he  went  so  far  as  to  make 
a  treaty  of  alliance  with  Austria  herself.     It  was  not  till 
after  Brun's  death  in  1360,  that  Zurich  was  really  loyal 
to  the  Confederation  and  could  be  reckoned  as  heart  and 
soul  with  the  party  of  independence. 
Giarus  and     In  1352  Glarus  and  Zug  formed  the  sixth  and  seventh 
igf/^"'     members  of  the  League,  and  in  1353  the  adhesion  of 
Bern         Bern  completed  the  famous  Confederation  of  the  Eight 
SI'         old  Cantons. 

Bern  had  been  recognised  as  an  Imperial  city  by  Ku- 
dolf  in  1274,  elected  her  own  officers,  had  her  own  mint 
and  market,  and  had  been  granted  various  privileges, 
such  as  exemption  from  any  military  service  which 
would  involve  inability  to  return  home  the  following 
night ;  but  though  privileged,  her  government  was,  on 


RISE  OF  THE  SWISS  REPUBLIC  107 

the  whole,  aristocratic  and  military.  Bern  had  ah'eady 
joined  the  Forest  States  in  1323  and  won  a  victory 
with  theni,  but  the  definite  alHance  was  not  made  till 
1353,  after  which  time  she  formed  a  strong  and  much- 
needed  bulwark  on  the  West. 

Now  it  was  that  the  true  war  of  Liberation  began. 
The  mountaineers  were  born  soldiers  and  success  de- 
veloped in  them  a  still  more  war-like  spirit.  In  1375,  victories  of 
their  victories  over  a  mixed  body  of  French  and  English  *^^^  ^"^^^^ 
mercenaries,  led  by  the  Lord  of  Coucy,  helped  to  increase 
their  self-confidence  and  ardour  for  battle.  The  inva- 
ders were  called  Englishmen  by  the  peasants,  or  Guijler 
from  the  cowls  {Kuf/elhilte)  which  many  of  them  wore : 
a  hillock  at  Butterholz,  where  they  were  repulsed,  is 
still  called  the  Englishmen's  Hill.  The  chief  work  of 
the  Confederates,  however,  was  still  against  the  House 
of  Habsburg,  and  it  was  during  this  struggle  that  they 
advanced  so  much  in  unity  and  national  policy. 

In  1386  Leopold  of  Habsburg  collected  a  large  army 
of  nobles  and  mercenaries  from  Germany,  Italy  and 
France,  with  which  he  felt  confident  of  crushing  once 
and  for  all  the  insolent  peasants.  His  plan  was  to 
march  upon  Lucerne,  as  the  centre  of  the  Confedera- 
tion ;  and  in  the  hot  summer  month  of  July  his  main 
force  rode  round  the  shore  of  the  little  Lake  of  Sem- 
pach,  situated  in  undulating  country  about  ten  miles  to 
the  north  of  Lucerne. 

Here  followed  the  battle  which  completed  the  work  Battle  of 
begun  at  Morgarten  and  gave  real  security  to  Swiss  in-  isse'*^'^  ' 
dependence.     A  band  of  Confederates  concealed  in   a 
forest  awaited  the  enemy,  and  Leopold  fell  into  the  am- 
bush, with  the  result  that  he  faced  his  foes  on  an  un- 
even plateau,  quite  unsuited  for  cavalry  fighting.     The 


108  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

Austrians  dismounted  and  prepared  to  fight  on  foot, 
armed  with  the  long  spears  they  were  accustomed  to  wield 
on  horseback.  The  Swiss,  formed  in  their  wedge-shaped 
column,  and  armed  with  halberds  and  short  weapons, 
were  wholly  unable  at  first  to  make  any  impression  on 
the  enemy,  as  they  could  not  reach  them  to  strike  a 
single  blow.  The  nobles  seemed  sure  of  victory  when 
the  tide  of  battle  was  turned  as  by  a  miracle. 

Arnold  von  Winkelried,  so  the  story  runs,  rushed 
upon  the  serried  ranks  of  spears,  seized  all  he  could 
reach,  and  turning  them  into  his  own  body,  formed  a 
gap  through  which  his  fellows  could  enter  :  once  at  close 
quarters  they  were  able  to  do  deadly  execution  with 
their  shorter  weapons.  In  a  hand-to-hand  encounter  the 
knights  were  nowhere ;  they  could  scarcely  move  their 
long  lances,  they  were  almost  cooked  with  the  hot  sun 
streaming  on  their  heavy  armour,  and  were  totally  un- 
able to  cope  with  the  quick  movements  of  the  active  and 
light-armed  mountaineers.  In  vain  Leopold,  enraged  at 
the  ill-success  of  his  army,  plunged  with  reckless  courage 
into  the  thickest  of  the  fight.  His  fall  was  the  signal  for 
a  general  retreat.  In  desperate  confusion  knights  and 
squires  turned  to  fly,  but  overweighted  as  they  were  and 
unable  to  reach  their  horses,  few  escaped.  The  Con- 
federates fell  on  their  knees  to  thank  God  for  a  victory 
as  complete  as  has  ever  been  won  by  any  army,  the  news 
of  which  spread  like  wild-fire  over  Europe ;  and  all  men 
marvelled  at  the  defeat  of  such  a  force  of  chivalry. 

The  struggle  was  not  yet  over.     There  was  a  truce 
for  the  time,  followed  by  another  victory  for  the  peas- 
Battle  of    ^^^^  ^^  Nafels,  where  the  men  of  Glarus,  imitating  the 
Niifeis,       tactics  of  Morgarten,  flung  down  stones  on  the  advancing 
horsemen  and  then  routed  them  with  a  charge  down 


RISE  OF  THE  SWISS  REPUBLIC  109 

the  steep  hill-side.  Evei'y  year  a  pilgrimage  is  made  to 
Nafels  and  to  the  Eleven  Stones,  which  are  said  to  mark 
the  place  where  eleven  times  the  Austrians  rallied  in  a 
vain  attempt  to  stem  the  victorious  onslaught.  Peace  Treaty  of 
followed  in  1389,  by  which  the  Duke  of  Austria  gave  up 
all  his  feudal  claims  over  Lucerne,  Glarus  and  Zug. 

In   1393    the    Confederates   bound   themselves   onceiveatyof 

1393 

more  together  by  what  was  known  as  the  Convention  of 
Sempach,  and  the  Habsburg  Dukes,  despairing  at  last 
of  the  destruction  of  the  League,  signed  a  peace  which 
was  renewed  in  1412  and  which  was  the  practical  recog- 
nition of  the  Swiss  RepubHc. 

The  Confederation  thus  formed  was  of  a  very  pecuHar  Character 
character  and.  by  no  means  very  definitely  organised  ;  federation 
indeed  it  seems  extraordinary  that  it  should  have  held 
together  at  all,  considering  the  great  differences  which 
existed  between  the  various  States,  and  considering  also 
that  even  their  territory  did  not  form  one  continuous 
whole.  Uri,  Schwitz,  Unterwalden  and  Glarus,  the  four 
forest  cantons,  were  rural  communities  of  the  purest 
and  most  typical  kind  ;  the  government  was  in  the  hands 
of  the  sovereign  people,  who  met  in  open  air  assemblies 
to  arrange  all  matters  of  importance,  and  on  smaller 
affairs  delegated  their  powers  to  an  elective  Council.  In 
the  cities,  on  the  contrary,  the  chief  authority  was  ex- 
ercised by  the  magistrates  ;  Zurich  was  becoming  more 
and  more  democratic,  the  burgomasters,  of  whom  there 
were  two,  being  elected  every  half-year ;  but  Bern  was 
distinctly  aristocratic  with  a  Council  of  Twelve  chosen 
exclusively  from  the  upper  classes.  Lucerne  and  Zug 
were  something  between  the  two.  Not  only  were  the 
elements  of  the  Confederation  thus  diverse,  but  there 
was  no  real  central  organisation  to  keep  them  together. 


110  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

No  regular  Diet  existed  for  the  whole,  although  repre- 
sentatives from  some  of  the  States  may  have  met  oc- 
casionally for  common  business ;  the  Leagues  which 
united  them  were  very  varied  and  did  not  always  com- 
prise all  the  eight  members  of  the  Confederacy.  The 
chief  bond  of  union  was  common  hostility  to  the  Austrian 
Habsburgs,  and  common  connection  with  the  Forest 
States,  the  heart  and  soul  of  the  Federation.  The  docu- 
ments known  as  the  Priests'  Charter  and  the  Convention 
of  Sempach  were  regulations  binding  upon  the  whole 
body  ;  the  former  chiefly  to  secure  the  national  character 
of  the  clergy,  the  latter  a  military  constitution  contain- 
ing rules  as  to  discipline  and  management  of  future  wars. 
That  such  a  Confederation  should  have  proved  enduring, 
that  it  should  have  acquired  such  great  military  power 
in  the  succeeding  period,  reflects  the  greatest  credit  upon 
its  members  and  upon  their  growing  sense  of  nationality 
and  patriotism. 

ADDITIONAL  BOOK 

Hug  and  Stead  :  Sivitzerland  ("  Story  of  the  Nations  "). 


CHAPTEK  VI 


SCHISMS  IN  THE  PAPACY  AND  EMPIRE 

BEFOEE  the  close  of  the  fourteenth  century  both 
Papacy  and  Empire  were  reaching  a  period  of  the 
utmost  humihation.  The  old  order  was  already  giving 
way,  and  the  coming  change  was  heralded  by  anarchy 
and  confusion  which  affected  the  whole  of  Europe. 

In  1378,  as  has  been  already  seen,  the  death  of  Pope 
Gregory  was  followed  by  a  double  election  to  the  Papacy, 
which  led  to  a  forty  years'  struggle  between  rival  can- 
didates for  the  coveted  post ;  a  struggle  in  which  politi- 
cal motives  had  more  weight  than  spiritual  considerations, 
in  which  the  personal  character  of  the  Popes  fell  perhaps 
lower  than  ever  before,  and  which  could  not  fail  to  shake 
the  whole  organisation  of  the  Church  to  its  very  founda- 
tion. The  death  of  the  Emperor  Charles  IV.,  which 
took  place  in  the  same  year,  did  not  lead  immediately 
to  the  Schism  in  the  Empire.  His  son  Wenzel  was 
accepted  for  the  time  as  his  successor,  but  he  was  a 
man  totally  unfitted  to  fill  so  distinguished  a  post,  above 
all  at  such  a  period  of  difficulty.  So  great  was  the 
Imperial  degradation  under  his  feeble  rule,  that  in  1400 
the  Electors  endeavoured  to  depose  him  and  put  Kupert 
Count  Palatine  in  his  place.  Empire,  as  well  as  Papacy, 
was  thus  in  the  hands  of  rival  candidates. 

A  strong  Emperor  might  have  had  some  hope  of  set- 
thng  Church  dissensions.^    As  it  was,  the  Papal  Schism 

112 


SCHISMS  IN  THE  PAPACY  AND  EMPIRE        113 

could  not  be  healed  from  that  quarter,  and  other  politi- 
cal events  helped  to  prolong  the  difficulty.  The  Schism  Political 
was,  indeed,  in  many  respects  a  political  question,  'phg^o'^i^es 
reluctance  of  France  to  lose  the  influence  she  had  so 
long  exerted  over  the  Papacy  at  Avignon,  and  the  desire 
of  the  Italians  to  have  once  more  a  Pope  of  their  ov^^n 
nationality  established  at  Rome  soon  gave  the  dispute 
between  rival  Popes  almost  the  appearance  of  a  struggle 
between  France  and  Italy.  Certainly  the  attitude  taken 
up  by  the  different  Powers  of  Europe  towards  the 
question  was  decided  in  every  case  by  political  motives. 
Another  important  factor  in  the  business  was  the  dis- 
puted succession  in  Naples  where  the  House  of  Durazzo 
and  the  House  of  Anjou  were  competing  for  the  throne. 

Joanna  of  Naples,  it  will  be  remembered,  lost  her  life  Disputed 
while  resisting  the  claims  of  her  niece's  husband,  Charles  fn  Napie" 
of  Durazzo,  and  she  bequeathed  her  crown  and  her 
quarrel  to  Louis  of  Anjou.  From  the  first  the  rival 
Popes  took  up  the  rival  parties,  Urban  VI.  that  of 
Charles,  Clement  VII.  that  of  Louis.  The  deaths  of 
these  two  candidates  only  changed  the  persons  of  the 
rivals,  it  did  not  end  the  struggle.  Ladislas  succeeded 
Charles  as  King  of  Naples  and  exercised  a  very  impor- 
tant influence,  not  always  of  a  friendly  character,  over 
the  Popes  at  Rome.  The  claims  of  Louis  II.  of  Anjou 
were  still  upheld  by  the  Anti-popes  at  Avignon.  These 
points  are  important  to  remember  in  working  out  the 
history  of  the  Papal  Schism.  There  were,  besides, 
other  and  more  complicated  questions  involved,  and  the 
ambition  of  the  rival  candidates  was  not  the  only  ob- 
stacle to  the  healing  of  this  terrible  quarrel  in  the 
Church. 

Perhaps  had  Urban  VI.  been  of  a  more  conciliatory 


114  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

irregu-       disposition,    the   difficulty    might    have   been    averted. 

etecUoif  When,  hov^ever,  the  Cardinals  found  what  an  extremely 
unsatisfactory  choice  they  had  made,  it  v^as  easy  to  urge 
that  the  election  was  invalid  because  done  under  com- 
pulsion. At  the  time  of  the  Conclave  when  Urban  was 
chosen,  a  howling  mob  without  had  not  ceased  to  cry 
aloud  for  an  Italian  Pope  ! — a  Roman  Pope  !  and  they 
had  even  broken  into  the  palace  itself,  so  that  the  Car- 
dinals with  difficulty  escaped  with  their  lives.  Had  the 
claim  of  compulsion  been  made  at  once,  it  might  have 
been  recognised  as  valid.  The  mistake  arose  from  the 
fact  that  Urban  was  accepted  without  difficulty  until  his 
own  actions  rendered  him  obnoxious.  Not  till  then  did 
the  Cardinals  make  their  new  choice  of  Clement  VII. 

Neither  of  the  rival  Popes  had  the  qualities  which 
would  seem  desirable  for  the  high  position  to  which  they 
had  been  raised.  They  were  very  different  to  each  other 
in  character,  but  alike  in  their  firm  determination  to 
maintain  their  rights. 

Urban  VI.,  Urban  VI.  was  a  man  of  extreme  pride,  violence  and 
obstinacy.  He  preached  poverty  to  his  rich  ecclesiastics 
and  commanded  that  one  dish  alone  should  be  allowed 
at  their  table.  Worse  than  that,  he  did  not  attempt  to 
curb  his  temper  and  one  Cardinal  was  called  a  fool,  an- 
other was  told  to  hold  his  tongue,  he  had  talked  long 
enough.  His  policy  was  chiefly  to  uphold  his  cause 
against  all  opponents  and  to  exalt  his  own  family.  He 
seems  to  have  had  no  other  aims  nor  any  clear  concep- 
tion of  how  to  support  the  Papal  dignity. 
Anti-Pope,      Clement  VII.  was  only  thirty-six  years  of  age,  tall  and 

Clement  t         ■  r  i  i  i 

viL,  1378- commandmg  m  appearance,  tar  more  agreeable  and  con- 

1394  ciliatory  in  manners  than  his  low-born  rival,  but  a  warrior 

rather  than  a  churchman.     As  Papal  legate  in  North 


SCHISMS  IN  THE  PAPACY  AND  EMPIRE         115 

Italy  he  had  headed  bands  of  mercenary  soldiers,  and 
was  stained  by  the  responsibility  for  a  pitiless  massacre 
at  Cesena.  When  war  broke  out  between  the  two 
claimants,  Clement,  driven  from  Naples  by  a  mob  rising, 
took  refuge  in  Avignon,  where  a  Court  was  once  more 
established.  The  palace  there  became  the  recognised 
home  of  the  Anti-pope  and  a  scene  of  great  luxury  and 
magnificence.  It  was  this  which  gave  France  such  a 
particular  interest  in  the  question  and  so  strong  a  desire 
to  oppose  the  Popes  at  Eome. 

Europe  fell  into  two  camps.  Urban  was  supported  Europe  and 
by  Italy,  with  the  exception  of  Naples  ;  by  Germany  and  ^  °  ^''"^ 
Bohemia  in  return  for  his  recognition  of  King  Wenzel 
as  Emperor ;  by  England  because  he  was  hostile  to 
France ;  and  by  Hungary  whose  King  had  claims  on 
Naples  and  hoped  for  help.  France  was  backed  up  by 
Scotland,  always  ready  to  take  the  opposite  side  to  Eng- 
land ;  and  at  first  they  and  Naples  stood  alone  as  sup- 
porters of  Clement  VII.  Later  Castile,  Aragon  and 
Navarre  were  won  over  for  political  reasons. 

The  Schism  was  a  matter  which  concerned  the  whole  Causes  of 
of  Europe,  and  therefore  the  whole  of  Europe  had  to  contimf- 
be  satisfied  before  any  permanent  conclusion  could  be  g^^^j^^  ^'^'^ 
arrived  at.     When  one  Pope  died,  instead  of  leaving 
his  rival  in  possession,  the  different  powers  concerned 
felt  that  they  must  uphold  the  justice  of  their  cause  by 
at  once  filling  his  place.      The   Popes    also  appointed 
fresh  Cardinals,  and  those  Cardinals  could  not  exist  if 
the  man  to  whom  they  owed  their  creation  had  no  right 
to  his  office.     If  their  position  was  genuine,  the  other 
Cardinals  had  no  existence,  and  whatever  election  they 
made  was  of  no  value.     This  was  felt  equally  by  the 
Cardinals  at  Avignon  and  the  Cardinals  at  Eome.     In 


116  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

the  same  way  a  Pope  once  elected  was  never  ready  to 
admit  the  worthlessness  of  his  own  election.     If  he  were 
to  resign,  leaving  the  field  vacant  for  his  rival,  and  this 
rival   were  not  really  the   divinely  appointed  Pope,   a 
deadly  sin  had  been  committed  against  the  holy  office. 
Thus  political   and  ecclesiastical  reasons  combined  to 
render   the  settlement  of  the  question  one  of  almost 
hopeless  difficulty.     The  death  of  a  Pope  at  Eome  or 
at  Avignon  was  at  once  followed  by  a  new  election,  and 
the  longer  the  Schism  lasted  the  more  complicated  did 
its  solution  become. 
Urban  VI.       Meanwhile  the  character  and  ambition  of  the  Popes 
witT*"^'     added  to  the  troubles  of  Europe.     Urban  VI.  soon  lost 
Naples       ^j^g  friendship  of  Charles  of  Naples,  because  he  wanted 
to  form  a  Southern  Principality  for  his  own  very  worth- 
less nephew  Butillo.     When  King  Charles  was  murdered 
in  Hungary  in  138(3,  Urban  declared  that  his  Kingdom 
had  lapsed  to  the  Holy  See,  and  refused  to  recognise 
either  Charles's  son  Ladislas,  or  Louis  of  Anjou,  the  rival 
candidate  crowned  by  Clement  VII.     Such   struggles, 
added  to  quarrels  with  his  own  Cardinals,  occupied  most 
of  the  time  of  the  Italian  Pope,  who  at  last  ended  his 
stormy  days  at  Eome  fighting  against  the  magistracy 
of  the  city  which  he  deemed  too  strong. 
Boniface         The  Italian  Cardinals  now  chose  Boniface  IX.,  a  man 
Rom°        o^   oiily  thirty-three,  not  a  scholar  nor  a  student,  but 
1389-1404    q£  good  private  character  and  considerable  ability.     He 
Ladislas     hastened  to  pacify  one  enemy  by  recognising  Ladislas 
afKm^t^^of  ^s  K^^g  of  Naples,  and  he  conciliated  the  nobles  in  his 
Naples,      Q^7n  estates.     His  ruling  passion  was  avarice.     He  had, 
without  doubt,  great  need  for  money,  but  his  ways  of 
obtaining  it  were  neither  dignified  nor  honourable  and 
rendered   him   very   unpopular.     He    sold    everything; 


SCHISMS  IN  THE  PAPACY  AND  EMPIRE         117 

places,  privileges,  permission  to  break  all  sorts  of  rules. 
He  seized  goods  of  dying  Bishops,  he  discussed  financial 
matters  even  during  the  celebration  of  Mass.  In  his 
last  illness  some  one  inquired  of  his  health.  "  If  I  had 
more  money  I  should  be  well  enough,"  was  the  reply. 

These  events  were  not  calculated  to  raise  the  credit  Papacy 

much  ilis- 

of  the  Church  throughout  Europe.  In  England  the  credited 
government  was  endeavouring  to  check  Papal  power  by 
the  Statutes  of  Provisors  and  Praemunire ;  whilst 
Wycliffe  and  his  followers  were  led  to  question  the  whole 
theory  of  Papal  Primacy  and  to  preach  that  Christ  alone 
should  be  head  of  the  Church.  Even  in  Prance  the 
Schism  was  awaking  much  disgust,  and  the  University 
of  Paris  was  busy  considering  plans  for  ending  so  dis- 
graceful a  controversy.  It  was  suggested  that  either 
both  Popes  should  abdicate,  or  that  the  question  should 
be  submitted  to  judges  appointed  equally  by  both  sides, 
or  to  a  General  Council  of  the  Church.  It  is  said  to  have 
been  partly  anger  at  these  proposals  which  led  to  the 
fit  of  apoplexy  in  which  Clement  VII.  perished.  Bishop  Death  of 
Creighton  writes  of  him:  "He  was  not  great  enough  yj7|^''|394 
to  submit  for  the  good  of  Christendom,  nor  was  he  small 
enough  to  fight  solely  for  himself.  Overcome  by  the 
dilemma,  he  died." 

The  Cardinals  at  Avignon  hastily  put  in  his  place  a  Benedict 
learned  Spaniard,  Peter  de  Luna,  who  took  the  name^^.jgnojj^ 
of  Benedict  XIII.     They  did  go  so  far  as  to  urge  that  1394-1423 
whoever  was  elected  should  promise  to  abdicate  at  once 
if  called  on  to  do  so.     "I  would  abdicate  as  easily  as 
I  take  off  my  hat,"  said  Peter,  and  he  was  chosen.    Once  Attempts 
Pope,  however,  Benedict  was  not  so  amenable.    Negotia-  scwlm 
tions  for  his  abdication  were  begun  at  once.     Commis- 
sions   were  sent  to  him  from  the  University  of  Paris, 


118 


THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 


Escape  of 
Benedict, 
1430 


Innocent 
VII.  at 
Rome, 
1404-1406 

Gregory 
XII.  at 
Rome, 
1406-1415 


embassies  from  Koyal  Courts,  A  meeting  was  held 
between  the  Emperor  Wenzel  and  Charles  VI.  of  France, 
"  a  drmikard  and  a  madman,"  to  consult  as  to  plans. 
At  last  France  formally  withdrew  her  allegiance  from 
Benedict.  All  was  in  vain.  The  Pope  said  he  would 
confer  with  Boniface,  but  nothing  more.  "  Tell  the 
King  of  France  that  I  will  pay  no  heed  to  his  ordinances, 
but  will  keep  my  name  and  papacy  till  death,"  he  ex- 
claimed on  one  occasion.  Force  was  attempted  when 
entreaties  had  failed,  and  Benedict  was  besieged  in  his 
palace,  where,  despite  his  capitulation,  he  was  kept  prac- 
tically a  prisoner  for  five  years.  Meanwhile,  the  Koman 
Pope  Boniface  was  no  readier  to  resign  than  was  his 
rival.  Wenzel  had  promised  to  secure  his  abdication, 
but  he  had  no  power  to  fulfil  his  promise,  and  was  soon 
involved  in  difficulties  of  his  own  with  a  rival  Emperor. 

The  position  of  affairs  was  changed  shortly  after,  by 
the  revival  of  Benedict's  power.  Disguised  as  a  groom 
he  escaped  from  Avignon,  and  with  the  help  of  the  Duke 
of  Orleans  regained  the  obedience  of  France  to  his 
authority.  He  was  able  to  assert  his  rights  more  firmly 
than  ever,  and  to  disquiet  his  opponent  during  the  last 
year  of  his  life. 

The  death  of  Boniface  was  followed  by  the  election 
of  Innocent  VII.,  who  spent  the  two  years  of  his  office  in 
difficulties  with  Roman  nobles  and  Ladislas  of  Naples. 
His  successor,  Gregory  XII.,  was  again  appointed  on  con- 
dition of  striving  for  unity,  and  he  promised  to  resign 
whenever  his  rival  should  do  so. 

The  new  Italian  Pope  seemed  in  every  way  fitted  to 
bring  peace  to  the  Church,  since  no  one  could  expect 
him  to  have  any  great  ambition  or  love  of  office. 
Already  eighty  years  of  age,  he  was  so  thin  and  feeble. 


SCHISMS  IN  THE  PAPACY  AND  EMPIRE        119 

that  the  chief  fear  was  lest  he  should  die  before  the 
Schism  was  ended.  He  spoke  of  unity  with  the  greatest 
eagerness  and  protested  that  nothing  should  stand  in 
his  way ;  he  would  go  on  foot  to  meet  his  rival  if  horse 
could  not  carry  him  to  the  Conference.  After  some  dis- 
cussion, Savona  near  Genoa  was  agreed  upon  as  a  meet-  Proposed 
ing  place.  Here  both  Popes  were  to  come  and  resign  at°SaToM^ 
their  powers  that  a  new  Head  of  the  Church  might  then 
be  chosen.  No  sooner  was  this  arrangement  made  than 
difficulties  seemed  to  arise,  and  Gregory's  eagerness 
began  to  evaporate.  There  was  no  doubt  that  since 
Genoa  was  in  the  hands  of  the  French  King,  Savona 
was  a  place  which  would  favour  Benedict,  and  Gregory's 
friends  terrified  him  with  suspicions  of  false  play. 
Ladislas  of  Naples,  also,  who  had  great  influence  over 
the  old  man,  and  had  many  reasons  of  his  own  for 
preferring  the  Schism,  besides  dread  lest  a  new  Pope 
chosen  at  Savona  should  favour  the  claims  of  Anjou,  in- 
trigued to  prevent  the  Conference  and  to  hinder  Gregory's 
departure  from  Kome.  The  two  Popes  came  as  near  to 
one  another  as  Spezia  and  Lucca,  but  there  they  halted  ; 
neither  one  nor  the  other  would  advance  farther.  In 
the  words  of  the  Chronicler:  "  one,  like  a  land  animal, 
refused  to  approach  the  shore  ;  the  other,  like  a  water 
beast,  refused  to  leave  the  sea  ".  Meanwhile  the  dis- 
covery that  Benedict  was  secretly  plotting  to  seize  Eome 
during  his  rival's  absence  gave  Gregory  an  excuse  for 
repudiating  his  promise  of  resignation.  The  meeting 
at  Savona  was  finally  given  up  and  in  vain  did  the 
Cardinals  sammon  both  Popes  to  appear  before  a  Con- 
gress at  Pisa. 

This  General  Council  at  Pisa  was  very  important,  as  council  of 
the  first  of  a  series  of  attempts  to  settle  the  affairs  of  ^^^^>  ^^^^ 


120  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

Christendom  by  means  of  a  representative  body,  which 
claimed   to  be  actually  superior  to  the  Papacy  itself. 
Solemn   sentence  was  passed  on  the  two  competitors, 
who  were  declared  guilty  of  breaking  their  oaths  and 
being  obstinate  approvers  of  the  long  Schism.     Both 
were  pronounced  to  be  deposed,  and  an  obscure  Friar, 
whose  eloquence  and  learning  had  raised  him  to  the 
Archbishopric  of  Milan,  was  chosen  to  be  sole  Pontiff  as 
Alexander  V.     Naturally  the  chief  result  of  this  measure 
Election  of  was  to  create  three  rival  Popes  instead  of  two.     Alex- 
Popg"^'        ander  only  survived  his  election  a  year,  never  even  re- 
Aiexauder  gided  in  Rome,  which  had  to  be  won  for  him  from  the 
hands  of  Ladislas,  and  died  vainly  beseeching  his  Car- 
dinals "to  seek  peace  and  ensue  it  ". 

There  was  very  Httle  doubt  as  to  who  would  be  chosen 

to  succeed  Alexander.    One  very  energetic  Cardinal,  Bal- 

dassare  Cossa,  Legate  of  Bologna,  had  been  real  ruler  of 

Pope  and  Conclave  since  the  meeting  at  Pisa.     He  was 

supported  by  Louis  of  Anjou,  and  had  won  back  Eome 

from  Ladislas  and  bought  over  the  Orsini  family.     No 

one  dared  to  oppose  him  even  if  they  wished  it.     Despite 

his  disgraceful  private  character  and  the  fact  that  the 

few  good  qualities  which  he  possessed  were  wholly  mili- 

johu         tary  and  secular,  John  XXIII.  was  enthroned  as  infal- 

£!"■  ""^  ^^^^^  Head  of  the  Church.     After  his  conquest  of  Rome, 

1410-1415    {he  new  Pope  summoned  a  Council  there,  to  which  few 

went  and  of  which  strange  tales  are  told.     An  owl  is 

said  to  have  haunted  John  on  two  occasions.     First  it 

flew  at   him  whilst  he  was  celebrating  Mass,  and  the 

next  day  it  appeared  again  in  the  church,  with  its  great 

round  eyes  fixed  on  the  Pope,  and  was  driven  out  with 

difficulty.     The  superstitious  felt  that  the  bird  was  an 

omen  of  misfortune  or  a  sign  of   divine   disapproval ; 


SCHISMS  IN  THE  PAPACY  AND  EMPIPvE        121 

even  John  himself  was  dismayed.  John  had,  indeed, 
a  very  insecure  position  and  many  dangers.  The  first 
problem  he  had  to  face  was  the  attitude  he  should  adopt 
towards  German  affairs,  and  the  Imperial  Schism.  To 
understand  this  it  is  necessary  to  go  back  a  Httle  to  see 
what  had  been  happening  in  the  Empire  all  this  time, 
and  why  succession  disputes  arose  there  also. 

Germany  had  been  passing  through  a  period  of  great  Germany 
internal  disorder.  Wenzel  was  a  bad  King  as  well  as  a 
bad  Emperor,  and  despite  the  strong  x^osition  in  which 
Charles  IV.  had  left  the  house  of  Luxemburg,  many 
difficulties  were  involved  in  the  management  of  their 
extensive  and  scattered  territories.  Wenzel  succeeded  ^''^^Jjtm-^ 
his  father  when  only  eighteen  years  of  age  and  possessed 
of  very  little  strength  of  character.  He  was  a  sort  of 
spoilt  child  ;  pleasant  in  appearance,  affable  and  attrac- 
tive in  manner,  but  with  no  idea  of  either  hard  work  or 
self-control.  In  the  end,  his  love  of  eating  and  drinking, 
which  he  made  no  attempt  to  check,  undermined  health, 
looks  and  character,  and  changed  a  promising  youth  into 
a  feeble  and  despised  drunkard.  He  Hked  to  surround 
himself  with  favourites  and  courtiers,  both  as  companions 
and  as  assistants  in  the  government,  and  these  he  chose 
as  a  rule  from  the  burgher  class,  or  from  that  of  the  petty 
nobility.  This  much  angered  the  real  aristocracy  and 
old  noble  families  and  helped  to  render  him  increasingly 
unpopular. 

A  fact  of  interest  for  English  readers  in  Wenzel's  reign  Relation  of 
is  the  marriage  of  his  sister  Anne  with  King  Richard  ^ith  Eng- 
II.,  which  formed  a  very  close  connection  between  Eng- ^^"'^ 
land  and  Bohemia  ;  this  was  strengthened  by  the  growing 
influence  of  the  University  of  Prague  and  its  great  at- 
traction to  scholars.     Results  of  world-wide  importance 


122  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

arose  from  this  connection,  for  the  teaching  of  Wycliffe, 
which  gave  birth  to  the  Lollard  sect  in  England,  had 
great  influence  in  Bohemia  where  his  writings  were  first 
published,  and  where  John  Huss  in  particular  was  at- 
tracted by  his  doctrines  and  became  to  a  certain  extent 
his  disciple. 
Possessions     AVenzel  succeeded  to  great  territorial  possessions,  the 
Hous^e  of    acquirement  of  which  had  been  one  of  the  chief  aims  of 
J;",g'"'"      Charles  IV.     He  had  Bohemia,  Silesia  and  Lusatia  in 
his  own  hands,  Moravia   was  subject  to  him,  though 
immediately  under  the  rule  of  his  two  cousins,  Jobst 
and  Prokop ;  his  younger  brother  Sigismund  possessed 
Brandenburg,  and  marriage  aUiances  had  created  pos- 
sible claims  to  various  other  dominions.     The  first  terri- 
torial question  to  arise  was  that  of  Poland  and  Hungary. 
Lewis  the  Great,  King  of  both  these  countries,  had  only 
two  daughters,  Mary  and   Hedwig,  and  when  he  died 
Mary,    who    succeeded,    was  betrothed   to    Sigismund, 
Polish  and  youuger  brother  of  Wenzel.     The  succession  was  dis- 
iicSou  P^^sd  by  Charles  of  Naples,  but  in  the  end  Sigismund 
did  marry  the  lady  and  established  his  rights,  although 
Sigismund,  for  the  time  being   the  Queen-mother    Elizabeth  kept 
Hun  at '    complete  control  over  the  government.     This,  however, 
1387      '    only  secured  Hungary  ;  for  the  Poles  had  chosen  as  their 
,    elected  monarch  the  second  daughter  of  Lewis,  Hedwig, 

Uniou  of  •  •  1    p  T     1 

Poland  and  who  married  Jagello  of  Lithuania,  and  founded  a  new 
undeT'^''^   dynasty  in  this  separate  Kingdom.    Jagello  was  baptised 
v!*^i386     before  his  marriage,  taking  the  name  of  Ladislas  V. ; 
this  robbed  the  Teutonic  knights  of  much  of  their  legiti- 
mate occupation,  since  nominally  they  were  fighting  in 
the  North  against  the  heathen  Lithuanians,  and  now 
their  foes  were  under  a  Christian  King. 
Town  War,      Weuzel  personally  was  more  affected  by  a  war  be- 

1387-1339  ' 


SCHISMS  IN  THE  PAPACY  AND  EMPIRE        123 

tween  towns  and  nobles  which  he  was  totally  unable  to 
control,  and  which  brought  in  consequence  great  discredit 
on  his  authority  ;  a  discredit  which  tended  to  weaken 
his  office  as  well  as  himself.  For  some  time  towns  and 
townsmen  had  been  growing  in  importance.  They  had 
acquired  privileges  and  trading  rights  which  had  increased 
their  wealth  and  independence,  whilst  the  burghers  were 
individually  free  and  collectively  strong  through  their 
guilds.  Sometimes  larger  associations  were  formed  with 
surrounding  villages,  which  were  admitted  to  a  sort  of 
modified  citizenship.  The  chief  enemy  of  the  towns  was 
the  class  of  knights  and  smaller  tenants,  who  liked  to 
amuse  themselves  with  pillage  and  private  war.  Such  a 
form  of  entertainment  was  naturally  extremely  bad  for 
trade,  and  not  looked  on  with  approval  by  the  burgesses, 
who  united  to  put  down  the  practice.  Princes  and  great 
nobles  on  their  side  were  ready  to  support  the  rights  of 
their  order,  and  the  materials  for  a  really  serious  quarrel 
were  thus  at  hand. 

According  to  the  Golden  Bull  of  Charles  IV.  cities  might 
not  form  leagues  except  for  public  interests.  No  one, 
however,  paid  much  heed  to  paper  prohibitions,  and  an 
important  league  was  formed  of  the  Swabian  cities,  to  Swabiau 
check  aggressions  on  the  part  of  the  territorial  magnates.  ^''^^'"^ 
Such  a  union  was  encouraged  by  the  successes  which 
Swiss  peasants  were  winning  over  the  Habsburgs,  and 
in  1387  a  town  war  actually  broke  out  in  Swabia,  directed 
particularly  against  the  Count  of  Wiirtemburg,  a  very 
determined  foe  of  the  burghers. 

In  a  war  of  sieges  the  townsmen  knew  how  to  get  the 
better  of  their  opponents,  but  they  were  not  fitted  for 
pitched   battles  in  the  open ;    at  Doffingen  they  were  Battle  of 
severely  though  not  disgracefully  defeated  and  their  cour-  Pjo? '^^''"' 

1<388 


124  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

age  was  much  diminished,  Wenzel  had  a  chance  of 
interfering  in  this  quarrel  with  effect ;  he  might  have 
put  a  price  on  his  interference  and  dictated  satisfactory 

Peace  of     terms.     This  he  neglected  to  do,  and  the  Peace  of  Eger 

°^'''  ^    ^  which  ended  the  war  put  further  arbitration  in  the  hands 

of  Commissioners  from  Swabia,  Franconia,  Bavaria  and 

the  Rhine,  who  thus  did  the  work  which  the  Emperor 

shirked. 

Troubles  in  The  league  of  towns  was  followed  by  a  league  of  nobles, 
0  emia  ^-^^^  time  against  Wenzel  himself  and  his  unpopular 
favourites ;  and  amongst  his  most  determined  opponents 
was  his  cousin  Jobst  of  Moravia.  This  Jobst  has  been 
called  by  a  contemporary  writer  the  most  learned  prince 
of  his  time,  but  probably  the  competition  for  such  a  title 
was  not  very  high  ;  in  any  case  the  Moravian  Margrave 
loved  money  even  better  than  books,  and  never  bought 
his  literature,  but  only  borrowed  it.  One  thing  Jobst  did 
buy,  however,  and  that  was  part  of  Brandenburg  from 
Wenzel's  brother,  the  poverty-stricken  Sigismund,  but 
he  chiefly  used  this  possession  to  gain  more  money  by 
reletting  portions  of  it,  and  he  allowed  every  sort  of 
disorder  and  highway  robbery  to  continue  unchecked. 
Now  at  the  head  of  the  Bohemian  nobles,  he  made 
himself  extremely  inconvenient  to  Wenzel,  who  was 
taken  prisoner  in  his  own  country  and  only  freed  by 
the  exertions  and  the  money  of  his  brother  John  of 
Gorlitz,  his  only  whole-hearted  supporter. 

Stories  Possibly  most  of  the  stories  which  have  been  circulated 

Wenzel  about  Wenzel  in  order  to  explain  his  unpopularity,  are 
quite  untrue,  but  they  show  that  no  shred  of  respect 
hung  round  his  memory.  According  to  these  legends, 
he  used  to  run  about  the  streets  of  Prague,  beating  poor 
men  and  destroying  statues  and  works  of  art ;  whilst  one 


SCHISMS  IN  THE  PAPACY  AND  EMPIRE        125 

of  his  favourite  amusements  was  to  watch  the  execu- 
tioner at  work  and  to  superintend  in  person  the  infliction 
of  cruel  punishments,  such  as  putting  a  cook  who  had 
prepared  a  bad  dish  on  the  spit.     "What  shall  I  write 
good  of  this  Wenzel?"  asks  one  Chronicler,  "nothing. 
He  was  less  the  King  of  the  Bohemians  and  Komans 
than  their  executioner  ;  detested  by  clergy  and  people, 
by  burghers  and  peasants,  he  was  only  beloved  by  the 
Jews."     The  deposition  of  Wenzel,  however,  was  not  a 
personal  matter,  but  the  result  of  the  great  disorder  of 
Christendom,  and  his  utter  incapacity  to  take  any  strong 
line.     He  did  nothing  to  heal  the  Schism  and  was  fast 
letting  the  Empire  fall  to  pieces.     The  electors  wrote 
in  1397:  "  The  Empire  is  no  longer  ruled  by  a  strong 
hand,  so  that  war  prevails  all  over  the  country,  and  no 
one  knows  from  whom  to  demand  his  rights  ".     On  the 
West  the  Dukes  of  Burgundy  were  becoming  more  and 
more  independent,  and  were  gradually  increasing  the 
teiTitory  under  their  sway ;  in  Italy  Imperial  influence 
was  totally  abandoned.     Wenzel  himself  had  recognised 
Galeas  Visconti  as  Duke  of  Milan,  and  this  able  tyrant 
was  fast  building  up  a  large  and  independent  Duchy  in 
the  North  ;  whilst  the  submission  of  Genoa  to  the  French 
King  meant  a  great  extension  of  French  influence  in  the 
Peninsula.     It  was  France  again  which  seemed  to  be 
taking  the  lead  in  the  efforts  to  end  the  Papal  Schism. 

In  1 400  the  Electors  endeavoured  to  put  a  stop  to  the  Wenzei 
humiliation  of  Germany  and  the  Empire  by  the  deposi- aSupert 
tion  of  Wenzel  and  the  election  of  Eupert,  Count  Pala-  f^^^^'^' 
tine.     The  new  Emperor,  if  so  he  can  be  called,  was  a 
man  of  considerable  force  of  character,  full  of  activity  and 
ambition,  but  totally  unable  to  carry  out  his  aims.     "  A 
strong  heart,  strong  head,  but  short  of  means,"  as  Carlyle 


126  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

says.     For  ten  years  he  struggled  to  maintain  his  author- 
ity,  and  he  made  vain  attempts  to  re-assert  Imperial 
authority  in  Italy  and  to  curb  the  overgrown  power  of 
the  Milanese  Visconti.     His  death  in  1410  left  the  Em- 
pire, if  possible,  more  feeble  and  mo  re  divided  than  ever 
whilst  he  had  ruined  himself  in  the  effort,  and  had  to  sell 
Triple        his  own  goods  to  pay  his  personal  debts.     In  1410,  the 
Emp'i™,"'   Electors,  unable  to  agree,  chose  as  rivals  to  the  position 
1410  which   AVenzel   had   never   formally   relinquished,    his 

brother  Sigismund  and  his  cousin  Jobst.  Thus  the  Em- 
pire, like  the  Papacy,  was  the  prey  of  three  rival  claim- 
ants. This,  however,  proved  to  be  the  end  of  Jobst,  who 
died  three  months  later,  having  added  considerably  to  the 
general  confusion  with  little  permanent  result.  ' '  He  was 
thought  a  great  man,"  wrote  one  Chronicler,  "  but  there 
was  nothing  great  about  him  but  the  beard." 
Sigismund,  Sigismund  was  now  really  Emperor.  He  easily  came 
1410-1438  ^Q  ^^  agreement  with  Wenzel,  who  was  fond  of  his 
brother  and  also  fond  of  repose.  According  to  this 
arrangement,  Sigismund  was  only  to  take  the  title  of 
King  of  the  Eomans  as  long  as  Wenzel  was  alive,  but 
this  practically  amounted  to  a  complete  abdication  by 
the  latter  of  all  authority.  The  elder  brother  remained 
in  Prague  as  King  of  Bohemia  until  his  death  in  1419. 
He  never  obtained  the  Imperial  Crown  of  Kome  and  he 
left  all  power  in  the  hands  of  his  active-minded  junior 
Sigismund  was  no  nonentity,  whatever  else  he  may  have 
been.  He  was  a  mass  of  conceit  and  restless  energy,  and 
he  interfered  in  everything,  though  seldom  with  success. 
He  ran  ceaselessly  from  end  to  end  of  his  dominions  and 
also  to  foreign  lands,  and  wherever  he  went  he  carried 
with  him  a  great  idea  of  his  own  importance.  On  one 
famous  occasion  he  made  a  Latin  speech  in  which  a  mis- 


SCHISMS  IN  THE  PAPACY  AND  EMPIRE         127 

take  in  gender  occurred.  One  of  his  Cardinals  ventured 
to  correct  him.  "  I  am  King  of  the  Romans  and  above 
grammar,"  was  the  haughty  reply;  an  answer  which 
has  won  for  him  the  title  of  "  Sigismund  super  gram- 
maticam  "  in  the  pages  of  Carlyle. 

The  first  undertaking  of  importance  to  which  the  new  The  Pope 
King   turned   his    attention,    was    the   heahng   of    the  fj^mj^i'^^*^" 
Schism.     John  XXIII.  had  been  very  anxious  to  turn 
the  dissensions  in  the  Empire  to  his  own  advantage,  and 
to  win  help,  if  possible,  against  Ladislas  who  remained 
obstinately  hostile.     AVith   this  end  in  view  he  sided 
with  Sigismund  at  the  time  of  the  disputed  election, 
and   Germany   recognised    him    as  her  spiritual  head. 
But  Sigismund,  once  victorious,   determined  to  make 
something  out  of  this  alliance,  and  the  Pope  was  forced 
to  seal  the  compact  by  promising  to  submit  his  claims 
to  the  judgment  of  another  General  Council.     This  he 
did,  trusting  to  his  own  astuteness  to  save  his  power. 
All  depended  on  the  place  selected  for  the  meeting,  but.  Proposed 
in  a  spirit  of  bravado,  John  left  his  legates  to  arrange  S°""^ii  ^*^ 

^ .  .  '  *=>  *='    Constance 

this  with  Sigismund.     The  monarch  induced  them  to 
consent  to  Constance  as  being  healthy,  central,  roomy 
and  convenient.     Doubtless  he  did  not  add  that  it  was 
an  Imperial   city  completely  under  his  control,  where 
neither  John  nor  his  rivals  could  hope  to  gain  any  in- 
fluence.    The   Pope   must   have   bitterly   repented    his 
promise,  when  in  1414  the  death  of  Ladislas  freed  him  Death  of 
from  his  greatest  danger  and  enabled  him  to  win  back  ^^pj^^^^  °^ 
Rome  to  his  allegiance.     But  it  was  too  late  to  turn^^i^ 
back,  and  in  October  he  set  out  for  the  place  of  meet- 
ing.    Through  Meran  he  went  and  over  the  snowy  pass 
of  the  Arlberg  whence  he  looked  down  on  Constance ; 
*'  a  trap  for  foxes  "  he  called  it,  with  a  prophetic  fear 


128  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

of  what  was  before  him.     The  long  Schism  was  to  be 
ended  at  last. 

ADDITIONAL  BOOKS 

Bryce  :  Holy  Roman  Emjnre. 

Alice  Greenwood :  Empire  and  the  Papacy  in  the  Middle  Ayes. 

Milmau  :  History  of  Latin  Christianity. 


I 


CHAPTEE  VII 

FRENCH  HISTORY,  1328-1380 
N  1328,  as  we  have  already  seen,  Philip  VI.  came  to  Philip  vi., 

•  1328-1350 

the  throne,  and  prospects  seemed  bright.  The  new 
King  was  chivalrous  and  magnificent  ;  he  established  a 
noble  Court  at  Vincennes,  held  the  tournaments  and 
fetes  so  dear  to  that  age,  and  collected  round  him  rulers 
and  knights  from  many  foreign  lands.  He  was  ex- 
tremely pious,  gave  costly  gifts  to  religious  objects, 
went  in  person  on  pilgrimages,  and  in  his  home  life  was 
a  good  husband  and  an  affectionate  father.  It  remained 
to  be  seen  whether  he  would  be  a  good  King. 

Before  turning  to  more  interesting  matters,  there  is  Navan-e 
one  territorial  change  to  notice,  which  was  made  on 
Philip's  accession.  Navarre,  which  had  come  by  mar- 
riage to  Philip  the  Fair,  was  once  more  separated 
from  France  and  bestowed  on  Louis  X.'s  daughter  Joan, 
whose  son  Charles  the  Bad  of  Navarre  was  to  play  an 
important  part  in  coming  events. 

Some  fear  was  felt  as  to  the  attitude  Edward  III.  Relations 
might  take  up  in  regard  to  his  own  claim  to  the  French  g^gl^^d 
throne ;    but  none  too  securely  established  himself  at 
this  date,  he  consented,  though  with  some  reluctance 
and  delay,  to  do  homage  to  Philip  as  his  suzerain  for  the 
French   possessions.     Possibly   if    there   had   been   no  q^^^^^^  ^f 
other  reason  for  war  than  Edward's  nearness  to  the  War 
9  129 


130  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

throne,  matters  might  have  gone  no  farther ;  but  added 
to  the  natural  antagonism  between  French  and  Eng- 
hsh,  inevitable  so  long  as  England  clung  to  her  lands 
beyond  the  sea,  and  to  the  personal  jealousy  between 
two  rival  sovereigns,  there  were  other  causes  at  work 
slowly  but  surely  leading  in  the  direction  of  war.  As 
before,  Scotland  and  Flanders  are  important  in  this 
connection.  Edward  III.,  very  early  in  his  reign,  be- 
came involved  in  a  fresh  Scotch  war  in  support  of  the 
claims  of  Edward  Balliol  against  David  Bruce.  The 
Alliance  Scots  in  favour  of  Bruce  and  independence  applied  for 
France  and  help  to  France,  and  Phihp,  glad  of  the  opportunity,  sent 
'^°  '^"  troops  to  their  assistance.  This  was  bad  enough,  the 
fact  that  the  French  King  was  turning  more  than 
longing  eyes  upon  the  Guienne  territory  was  worse,  but 
fear  for  English  trade  was  worst  of  all.  England  in 
those  days  was  particularly  celebrated  for  her  breed  of 
sheep,  of  which  the  w^ool  was  good  and  long  and  much 
Flanders  sought  after  for  making  into  cloth.  Hence  the  great 
wooitrade  importance  of  our  connection  with  Flanders,  the  country 
above  all  others  where  weaving  was  most  actively  carried 
on.  The  Flemings  wove  our  wool  and  we  bought  their 
cloth,  to  the  mutual  satisfaction  of  both  parties.  Philip 
was  extremely  jealous  of  the  trade  of  England,  and  ready 
to  hamper  it  in  every  way  ;  he  was  also  much  interested 
in  Flemish  affairs.  The  internal  condition  of  Flanders 
in  this  reign  was  rather  different  from  what  it  had  been 
during  that  of  Philip  IV.  of  France.  The  Count,  Louis 
de  Nevers,  was  not  on  good  terms  with  his  subjects,  and 
he  turned  for  help  against  them  to  his  suzerain  the  King 
of  France.  One  of  Philip's  first  acts  had  been  to  defeat 
the  Flemings  in  a  bloody  battle  at  Cassel,  and  to  rein- 
state the  Count  who  was  all  the  more  bound  to  carry 


FRENCH  HISTORY,  1328-1380  131 

out  the  behests  of  his  feudal  lord.  Thus  when  Philip 
wished  to  embarrass  England  he  had  a  weapon  ready  to 
his  hand,  and  in  1336  he  obliged  his  vassal  Louis  to 
order  the  imprisonment  of  all  EngHsh  merchants  in 
Flanders.  Edward  retorted  by  forbidding  the  export  of 
wool  and  the  import  of  cloth,  a  blow  which  must  have 
been  crushing  to  the  prosperity  of  Flanders.  The  re- 
sult of  the  measure  was  the  rising  of  the  towns  and  the 
traders  against  their  ruler,  and  their  independent  alliance 
with  England.  In  the  town  of  Ghent  a  leader  was  found 
in  the  person  of  a  rich  weaver,  Jacob  van  Artevelde,  a  Jacob  van 
man  of  great  personal  influence,  eloquent  and  deter- 
mined. On  his  advice  a  policy  of  neutrality  was 
adopted  and  a  commercial  treaty  was  arranged  by  which 
Enghsh  wool  was  once  more  obtained  for  Flemish  looms. 
After  war  between  England  and  France  had  actually 
been  declared,  it  is  said  to  have  been  Artevelde  who 
urged  Edward  to  proclaim  himself  King  of  the  latter 
country.  The  Flemings  were  bound  by  solemn  oaths 
to  alliance  with  the  French  King,  but  their  oaths  did 
not  give  his  name,  and  they  were  ready  enough  to  obey 
King  Edward  rather  than  King  Philip.  In  order,  there- 
fore, to  gain  their  active  support  the  Fleurs-de-lys  were 
quartered  with  the  English  Leopards,  and  "the  first 
year  of  our  reign  in  France"  was  added  to  the  date  of 
all  English  State  documents  pubHshed  in  1337. 

There  was  cause  enough  without  doubt  for  the  out- 
break of  war,  and  the  pretext  stood  ready  to  hand  in 
Edward's  claim.  One  of  those  who  urged  him  most  influence 
strongly  to  the  undertaking  was  a  banished  Frenchman,  of  ArtoTs 
Robert  of  Artois,  who  had  taken  refuge  in  England  after 
condemnation  by  the  Court  of  Peers.  The  County  of 
Artois  was  claimed  by  Robert,  who  disputed  the  title  of 


132  THE  END  OF  THE  IVtIDDLE  AGE 

his  Aunt  Matilda,  the  actual  possessor.  A  trial  began 
in  1328,  but  Matilda  and  her  daughter  died  shortly 
after  under  such  very  suspicious  circumstances  that 
Eobert  was  accused  of  having  poisoned  them :  add  to 
this  that  he  vv^as  found  to  have  forged  documents  to 
support  his  claim,  and  to  have  used  magic  arts  against 
the  King  and  his  family,  and  it  is  not  surprising  that  he 
vv^as  condemned  to  banishment,  nor  that  when  in  banish- 
ment he  was  ready  to  stir  up  any  enemies  against  the 
King  who  had  passed  sentence  upon  him.  A  quaint 
ballad  tells  how,  at  a  great  banquet,  Robert  offered  to 
King  Edward  a  dish  on  which  lay  a  heron, — the  most 
cowardly  of  birds,  he  said,  for  the  most  cowardly  of 
monarchs.  When  Edward  showed  indignation  at  the 
taunt,  he  was  asked  how  he  could  let  a  usurper  enjoy 
his  rights ;  and  heated  with  enthusiasm,  he  and  all  his 
companions  vowed  to  depart  forthwith  to  assert  the 
English  claims,  many  young  nobles  covering  one  eye 
and  vowing  not  to  open  it  again  until  they  had  done 
some  deed  of  prowess  on  French  soil.  This  story  is 
doubtless  a  fiction,  but  nevertheless  a  good  illustration 
of  the  light  way  in  which  war  was  undertaken  in  those 
days,  when  it  was  almost  more  necessary  to  find  an 
excuse  for  peace  than  an  excuse  for  fighting,  and  when 
a  campaign  in  an  enemy's  country  was  very  like  a 
tournament  on  a  larger  and  more  dangerous  scale. 
English  Edward,  however,  did  not  go  to  war  unprepared.     He 

began  to  form  aUiances  and  to  seek  for  useful  support. 
The  Emperor,  Lewis  of  Bavaria,  recognised  his  claims 
and  made  him  Imperial  Vicar ;  an  empty  title  enough. 
Although  Lewis  gave  no  actual  help,  his  support  was 
nevertheless  important,  since  it  enabled  several  vassals 
of  the  Empire  to  take  up  Edward's  cause.     Such  were 


alliances 


FRENCH  HISTORY,  1328-1380  133 

the  Dukes  of  Brabant  and  Guelders,  the  Margrave  of 
Juliers,  and  the  Count  of  Hainault,  father  of  his  wife, 
besides  the  Flemings  of  whom  we  have  aheady  spoken.  French 

t  fllllSitlCBS 

Philip  on  his  side  had  the  Count  of  Flanders,  King 
John  of  Bohemia  father  of  the  future  Emperor,  and 
several  of  the  Princes  from  the  Pyrenees. 

The  actual  declaration  of  war  was  in  1337  and  some  Deciara- 
fightmg  took  place  on  the  north-east  frontier  oi  ±|  ranee,  War,  1337 
but  Philip  avoided  a  pitched  battle,  and  the  first  striking 
event  in  the  struggle  took  place  on  the  sea  off  the  port 
of  Sluys.  In  1340  Edward  set  sail  to  join  his  ally  the 
Count  of  Hainault,  but  the  French  had  suspected  his 
movements  and  as  he  approached  Sluys  he  saw  "so 
many  vessels  that  their  masts  were  like  a  wood,  at 
which  he  greatly  marvelled ".  These  were  a  fleet 
chiefly  composed  of  Norman  ships  which  had  already 
done  damage  on  the  English  coast  and  captured  one  of 
our  boats  the  Christopher.  "Then  began  a  battle  fierce  Battle  of 
and  hard  on  both  sides,  archers  and  crossbowmen  shoot-'  "^■''' 
ing  against  one  another,  and  men  at  arms  fighting  hand 
to  hand  boldly  and  bitterly  :  and  that  they  might  better 
reach  one  another  they  had  great  iron  crooks  attached 
to  chains,  which  they  threw  into  the  enemy's  ships  and 
fastened  them  together,  so  that  they  might  better  board 
them  and  fight  more  hotly."  The  day  ended  in  a  victory 
for  the  English  and  the  recovery  of  the  Christopher,  after 
which  a  truce  put  an  end  to  the  fighting  for  the  time 
being.  By  the  victory  England  gained  a  control  over  sea 
and  shipping  which  was  most  useful  in  the  coming 
struggle. 

In  the  following  year,  events  occurred  in  France  which  Disputed 
tended  greatly  to  benefit  the  English  and  encouraged  Ed-  in  Brit-*'" 
ward  to  recommence  the  conflict.    The  Duchy  of  Brittany  ^^^y-  ^'^"^^ 


134  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

was  still  a  veiy  independent  feudal  State,  almost  wholly- 
removed  from  royal  influence.  Duke  John  III.,  who 
had  been  fighting  as  an  ally  of  PhiHp,  died  in  1341  leav- 
ing no  children,  and  a  succession  question  arose  curiously 
like  that  in  France  itself.  John's  next  brother  had  died 
leaving  a  daughter,  Joan  of  Penthievre,  the  nearest  to 
the  succession  by  right  of  birth,  and  she  had  married 
Charles  of  Blois,  a  nephew  of  the  French  King.  A 
younger  brother  of  the  late  Duke,  however,  John  of 
Montfort,  had  seized  the  Duchy  and  was  supported 
by  the  greater  number  of  the  Bretons  themselves.  A 
struggle  began  between  these  rival  claimants,  backed  up 
by  France  and  England.  In  direct  opposition  to  their 
own  claims,  Edward  supported  Montfort,  Philip  took  up 
the  cause  of  Charles  of  Blois.  Then  began  a  long  and 
confusing  struggle  of  more  than  twenty  years'  duration, 
which  constantly  hampered  the  French  King  and  was 
full  of  romantic  incidents. 

diaries  of  The  chicf  combatants  themselves  were  striking  char- 
°'^  acters.  Charles  of  Blois,  a  true  mediaeval  saint,  was 
made  up  of  opposing  qualities.  He  treated  his  foes 
with  cold-blooded  cruelty,  but  he  heard  Mass  four  or 
five  times  a  day,  wore  pebbles  in  his  shoes  and  knotted 
ropes  round  his  body,  and  once  indeed  when  he  had  cap- 
tured a  town  and  his  soldiers  were  needlessly  slaying  the 
inhabitants,  he  first  returned  thanks  in  the  Cathedral 
and  then  stopped  the  massacre. 

John  of  John  of  Montfort  himself  played  no  very  leading  part ; 

and  Joan  of  he  was  taken  prisoner  in  the  first  year  of  the  war,  and 

Flanders  (jjg^j  j^-^  ^|-^g  fourth.  His  wife,  Joan  of  Flanders,  "  who 
had  the  courage  of  a  man  and  the  heart  of  a  lion,"  con- 
tinued the  struggle.  When  her  husband  was  taken  she 
brought  her  little  son  before  her  supporters  at  Eennes 


FRENCH  HISTORY,  1328-1380  135 

and  claimed  their  aid.  "Do  not  lament,"  she  said, 
"  for  the  lord  you  have  lost ;  behold  my  little  child,  who 
will  be  his  avenger  if  God  so  will.  I  have  wherewithal 
to  fight,  and  you  shall  choose  a  captain  who  will  be  your 
comforter."  From  town  to  town  she  went,  raising  the 
spirits  of  the  garrisons,  and  finally  held  out  in  Hennebon, 
which  was  besieged  by  Charles  of  Blois.  Here  she  her- 
self led  a  surprise  party  which  burnt  the  enemy's  tents, 
and  it  was  her  determination  which  prevented  surrender 
until  an  English  reinforcement  came  to  her  help.  Like 
Sister  Anne  she  watched  from  a  window  for  the  promised 
succour  until  the  moment  of  submission  had  almost 
come,  but  at  last  she  was  able  to  cry,  "  Here  comes  the 
help  for  which  I  have  been  longing  "  ;  and  when  Walter 
Manny  and  the  English  arrived,  "  she  kissed  him 
and  his  companions  one  after  the  other  two  or  three 
times,  and  those  who  saw  her  might  well  say  that  'twas 
a  valiant  dame  ". 

It  would  take  too  long  to  follow  Froissart  through 
the  detailed  account  of  skirmishes  and  sieges  which 
went  to  make  up  the  Breton  war,  but  it  can  be  easily 
seen  how  a  disturbance  like  that  was  a  godsend  to  the 
English  King,  who  wanted  nothing  more  than  a  good 
entry  into  France  through  the  land  of  Brittany. 

In  1344  actual  war  was  renewed  between  England  and 
France  with  the  sending  of  the  Count  of  Derby  into 
Guienne  ;  but  before  Edward  himself  took  active  part  in 
the  struggle,  he  suffered  a  great  loss  in  the  death  of  his 
ally  Jacob  van  Artevelde.  Various  causes  led  to  his  Murder  of 
murder.  Probably  the  leader  had  made  himself  too  yekietl345 
powerful,  while  struggles  were  arising  between  different 
trades,  the  fullers  and  the  weavers  being  especially  jealous 
of  one  another.     The  final  impulse  may  have  been  given 


136  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

by  news  of  Artevelde's  conference  with  Edward,  when  it 
was  proposed  to  bestow  Flanders  on  the  young  Prince 
of  Wales.  In  any  case  a  riot  rose  in  Ghent,  Jacob  was 
besieged  in  his  house,  and  despite  his  eloquent  appeal  to 
the  people,  was  killed  without  mercy.  Edward,  then  at 
Sluys,  sailed  away  "  so  moved  and  angered  at  the  death 
of  his  friend  that  it  would  be  marvel  to  tell,"  and  the 
Count  was  reinstated  in  power. 

In  1346  Edward  collected  a  force  for  the  help  of  the 
Count  of  Derby  in  Guienne,  but  partly  on  account  of 
contrary  winds,  partly  by  the  advice  of  Godefroi  d'Har- 
court,  another  discontented  Frenchman  who  had  joined 
the  English,  he  changed  his  undertaking  into  an  invasion 
of  the  North  and  lauded  at  La  Hogue.  The  famous 
Cre^y  campaign  is  too  well  known  to  need  a  long  account. 
Burning  and  pillaging,  especially  at  Caen,  and  passing 
close  to  Paris  at  Poissy,  where  the  Seine  was  crossed,  the 
English  army  retreated  towards  the  river  Somme,  fol- 
lowed closely  by  Philip  who  had  started  after  them  from 
his  capital.  Every  bridge  had  been  destroyed  to  hinder 
their  passage,  but  by  the  aid  of  a  peasant  a  ford  at 
Blanchetaque  was  found  and  crossed,  despite  a  force  of 
the  enemy  stationed  on  the  opposite  bank  to  check  the 
advance.  Philip  arriving  soon  after  was  unable  to  pass 
at  the  same  place  as  it  was  only  possible  to  do  so  whilst 
the  tide  was  low.  He  thus  lost  some  time  by  having  to 
go  round  by  Abbeville,  so  that  the  EngHsh  army  was 
strongly  posted  at  Cre9y  before  it  was  overtaken  by  the 
Battle  of  French.  In  the  battle  which  followed  the  evils  of  the  old 
Aug.^iS'  military  system  were  glaringly  displayed.  To  meet  the 
compact  and  disciplined  force  of  the  English,  well  sup- 
phed  with  archers  and  foot-soldiers,  France  had  a  turbu- 
lent feudal  levy,  each  leader  thinking  himself    above 


FRENCH  HISTORY,  1328-1380  137 

authority  and  supreme  over  his  own  soldiers;  whilst 
the  Genoese  cross-bowmen,  mercenaries  despised  by  the 
French  nobles,  were  in  no  way  a  match  for  the  English 
with  their  long  bow.  Every  detail  of  the  day  seemed 
to  be  to  the  disadvantage  of  the  French.  A  storm  of 
rain  rendered  the  cross-bows  of  the  Genoese,  unpro- 
tected apparently  from  the  weather,  almost  useless ; 
when  the  sun  came  out  with  renewed  brightness  after 
the  storm,  it  shone  full  in  the  faces  of  the  French- 
men ;  the  two  Marshals  quarrelled  before  ever  the 
battle  began,  and  the  first  charge  was  a  moment  of 
wild  confusion.  The  luckless  mercenaries,  sent  to  open 
the  fray,  were  shot  down  by  Enghsh  archers  in  front 
and  trampled  on  in  the  rear  by  the  French  cavalry 
which  was  pushed  forward  from  behind.  Nevertheless 
the  French  fought  bravely  if  not  wisely,  and  Edward's 
chaplain,  writing  after  the  fight,  says  modestly  :  "  The 
battle  was  hard  and  lasted  long,  for  the  enemy  bore 
themselves  most  nobly  ;  but  praise  be  to  God  they  were 
discomforted  and  the  King  our  adversary  was  put  to 
flight  ".  It  was  almost  evening  when  the  fighting  began, 
and  midnight  before  it  was  over,  so  that  Edward  camped 
on  the  field  all  night.  Philip,  forced  from  the  battle,  fled 
in  the  darkness  to  the  Castle  of  Broye,  which  opened  its 
gates  on  recognising  his  cry  :  "  Open,  open,  Chatelain, 
'tis  the  unfortunate  King  of  France".  Many  of  the 
highest  rank  perished  on  the  field  ;  amongst  others  the 
Count  of  Flanders,  the  Duke  of  Lorraine  and  the  bhnd 
King  of  Bohemia,  who  was  led  by  four  Knights,  that  he 
might  strike  one  blow  in  his  friend's  cause,  and  who  was 
found  dead  still  attached  to  his  leaders.  Edward,  as  is 
well  known,  had  left  the  burden  and  the  honour  of  the 
day  to  his  young  son  the  Black  Prince,  that  the  boy 


138  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

might  "  win  his  spurs  "  :  he  kissed  him  after  the  battle 
with  words  of  praise :  "  Fair  son,  God  give  you  good  per- 
severance. You  are  my  son  indeed,  for  loyally  have 
you  acquitted  yourself  this  day ;  well  do  you  deserve 
to  hold  this  land." 
Siege  of  From  Cre^y  the  English  marched  upon  Calais,  and 

Sept.  1346  for  eleven  months  the  city  bore  the  horrors  of  a  siege. 
*°|^"s-  Edward  built  for  himself  a  regular  town  outside  the  walls, 
Villeneuve-la-Hardi  he  called  it,  where  he  was  joined  by 
his  wife,  and  where  the  English  settled  themselves  com- 
fortably down  with  houses  and  shops,  determined  to 
starve  out  the  place  rather  than  storm  it  by  assault. 
This  they  very  effectually  did,  blocking  it  by  sea  and 
land,  and  though  Philip  came  within  sight  of  the  walls 
he  did  nothing  to  help  the  brave  defenders.  The  loss  of 
Calais  meant  much  to  France,  and  as  a  safeguard  for 
the  Channel  and  the  passage  of  their  ships,  its  possession 
was  a  great  source  of  strength  to  the  English.  Once 
more  a  truce  ended  for  a  time  the  wearisome  struggle. 
John  tins  Shortly  after  these  events  Philip  VI.  died,  but  he  was 
?35()-64  succeeded  by  a  son  of  very  similar  character.  John  the 
Good,  like  John  of  Bohemia,  owed  his  title  rather  to  the 
fact  that  he  was  "  open-handed  and  courteous  and  loved 
feasts  and  tourneys,"  than  to  being  in  any  sense  a  good 
King.  Though  like  his  father  he  was  no  general,  he 
was  brave,  chivalrous  and  a  great  admirer  of  all  knightly 
deeds.  His  order  of  the  Etoile,  intended  as  an  imitation 
of  King  Arthur's  Round  Table,  and  with  most  elaborate 
rules  as  to  dress  and  ceremonies,  expressed  well  the  char- 
acter of  its  founder. 

When  the  struggle  was  once  more  renewed,  success 
Charles  the  again  favoured  the  English.  At  this  juncture  Charles  of 
Navam     Navarre  becomes  prominent.     A  grandson  of  Louis  X. 


FRENCH  HISTORY,  1328-1380  139 

of  France,  he  possessed,  besides  his  own  Kingdom  of 
Navarre,  scattered  estates  throughout  France,  especi- 
ally between  Paris  and  Normandy,  which  rendered  his 
friendship  of  great  value.  John  reahsed  this  when  he 
gave  him  his  little  eight-year-old  daughter  in  marriage ; 
but  there  was  no  making  sure  of  the  slippery  King,  who 
earned  the  title  of  "  the  bad  "  even  in  those  days  of  re- 
spect for  rulers.  He  played  fast  and  loose  with  both 
sides,  encouraging  the  English  to  renew  the  contest, 
deserting  them  when  they  did  as  he  advised,  forcing 
King  John  to  endless  humiliations  to  win  him  over  and 
then  proving  the  most  uncertain  of  allies.  At  the  date 
of  the  Black  Prince's  famous  campaign  of  Poitiers  he 
was  for  the  time  being  a  supporter  of  France,  having 
been  forgiven  by  the  King  for  his  murder  of  the  French 
constable,  which  had  threatened  to  create  a  permanent 
breach  between  them. 

The  chief  seat  of  war  was  now  the  South-west.  The  Campaign 
nobles  of  Gascony  were  on  the  whole  favourable  to  the  taine^Tsss- 
cause  of  the  English,  Their  country  was  very  distinct  ^^^^ 
from  the  rest  of  France,  and  they  had  been  long  accus- 
tomed to  the  rule  of  their  distant  suzerain  in  England, 
whom  they  found  less  interfering  than  one  nearer  at 
hand.  At  the  present  moment  too  they  were  suffering 
from  high-handed  procedure  on  the  part  of  Jean  d'Ar- 
magnac,  a  great  baron  of  the  South  in  the  service  of 
King  John.  They  therefore  wished  the  Prince  of  Wales 
to  come  to  their  help,  and  received  him  with  many  ex- 
pressions of  loyalty.  After  a  devastating  campaign  in 
the  South,  in  which  many  towns  and  much  booty  fell 
into  his  hands,  the  Black  Prince  turned  northwards,  with 
the  intention  of  joining  forces  with  the  Duke  of  Lancaster, 
but  he  was  met  by  Jolm  at  the  head  of  a  very  large  army, 


140  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

confident  of  cutting  to  pieces  the  small  English  force. 
Prince  Edward  chose  his  ground  well  not  far  from  the 
Battle  of    town   of   Poiticrs  and  there   awaited  attack.     He  was 
19th  Sept.   stationed  on  a  plateau  sloping  down  to  a  marshy  valley, 
1356  guarded  from  the  French  by  a  hedge  along  which  the 

archers  were  planted,  and  which  had  one  gap  in  it,  led 
up  to  by  a  road.  With  the  exception  of  a  small  force 
for  skirmishing,  the  soldiers  were  on  foot,  in  order  to 
make  the  most  of  the  rough  ground  and  their  defensive 
position,  but  with  horses  at  hand  to  use  if  a  charge  was 
wanted.  On  Saturday,  17th  September,  the  Prince  took 
up  his  station ;  Sunday  was  spent  in  fruitless  negotia- 
tions, conducted  by  the  Cardinal  of  Perigord,  an  emissary 
of  the  Pope  who  had  long  been  endeavouring  to  end  the 
useless  bloodshed.  In  vain,  however,  the  Churchman 
rode  from  one  army  to  the  other  suggesting  terms.  The 
Prince  refused  to  treat :  he  had  no  power,  he  said,  to 
make  peace  without  the  consent  of  the  King  his  father, 
and  the  Cardinal,  although  he  renewed  the  attempt  next 
morning,  could  no  longer  command  attention.  Edward 
was  busy  encouraging  his  soldiers  :  "  If  we  are  small  in 
numbers  compared  to  the  enemy  let  us  not  fear  for  that, 
for  victory  does  not  lie  with  the  multitude  but  where 
God  shall  give  it.  If  we  win  the  day  the  more  glory  to 
us;  if  we  die  there  are  those  who  will  avenge  us."  On 
Monday,  19th  September,  the  battle  of  Poitiers  was 
fought.  It  was  a  surprisingly  easy  victory ;  the  French 
mistakes  were  very  similar  to  those  of  Cregy,  arising 
chiefly  from  rashness  and  lack  of  discipline,  but  there 
was  also  a  want  of  firmness  among  the  nobles,  which 
caused  them  to  lose  the  reputation  for  bravery  which 
had  been  considered  their  one  redeeming  feature.  The 
two  French  Marshals  and  their  cavahy  rode  first  to  the 


FRENCH  HISTORY,  1328-1380  141 

attack,  but  were  thrown  into  dire  confusion  as  they  ad- 
vanced up  the  road  to  the  gap,  by  the  arrows  showered 
upon  them  by  the  archers  along  the  hedge,  and  they 
threw  into  disorder  and  panic  the  troop  which  was  ad- 
vancing behind  them.  "Advance,  Sire,"  advised  the 
Prince's  friend  Sir  John  Chandos,  "  the  day  is  yours ; 
charge  on  the  division  of  your  adversary  the  King  of 
France,  for  there  is  the  heart  of  the  business."  "  For- 
ward, John,"  was  the  reply,  "you  will  never  see  me 
retreat."  The  three  eldest  sons  of  the  French  King 
and  their  division  fled  before  the  onslaught.  In  the 
thick  of  the  battle,  John  himself  with  his  youngest 
son  Philip,  who  never  left  his  side,  held  out  till  all 
was  lost,  surrendering  in  the  end  to  a  Knight  of  Artois. 
"Had  a  quarter  of  his  men  resembled  him,  the  day 
would  have  been  for  them,"  says  Froissart,  not  con- 
sidering that  something  more  than  courage  goes  to  the 
winning  of  a  battle. 

The  treatment  of  the  captured  Monarch  illustrates 
w^ell  the  best  side  of  the  chivalry  of  the  time.  John  was 
brought  to  the  tent  where  the  Prince  was  resting  after 
his  exertions  :  the  latter  welcomed  him  with  all  honour. 
"  He  bowed  low  and  received  him  as  King  well  and  wisely 
as  he  well  knew  how  to  do,  and  commanded  wine  and 
spices  to  be  brought^  which  he  himself  gave  to  the  King 
in  sign  of  great  love."  That  evening  Edward  gave  a 
banquet  to  the  chief  of  his  prisoners,  at  which  he  served 
the  King  with  his  own  hands  and  begged  him  not  to 
let  his  defeat  spoil  his  appetite;  "for  you  have  great 
reason  to  rejoice  although  the  affair  has  not  ended  to 
your  wishes,  for  to-day  you  have  won  for  yourself  a 
name  of  renown,  and  have  surpassed  all  the  brave 
warriors  of  your  party  ".     As  usual  the  victory  did  not 


142  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

lead  to  any  great  results ;  a  truce  followed  and  next 
year  John  was  conducted  to  honourable  captivity  in 
England,  where  he  hunted  and  feasted  and  enjoyed  life 
with  the  best.  His  one  return  to  France  was  after  the 
Treaty  of  Bretigny,  when  he  went  back  to  arrange  the 
details  of  the  peace,  and  to  collect  his  own  ransom, 
failing  in  which  he  returned  to  his  easy  imprisonment 
and  died  in  the  Tower  of  London. 
Peace  of  This  Peacc  which  ended  the  first  stage  of  the  war  was 
13^60°"^'  iiegotiated  in  1360,  when  Edward  had  made  a  fresh  in- 
vasion, this  time  in  the  North  of  France.  His  campaign 
was  not  very  successful ;  the  French  knew  better  than 
to  risk  another  pitched  battle,  and  the  Enghsh  failed  to 
enter  into  Keims  or  Paris.  Finally,  on  the  receipt  of 
very  bad  news  from  Scotland  telling  of  fresh  incursions 
and  an  alliance  with  the  Dauphin,  the  English  King 
made  up  his  mind  to  treat.  The  conference  as  to  terms 
was  held  at  the  little  hamlet  of  Bretigny  near  Chartres, 
and  the  Treaty  was  confirmed  and  formally  signed  at 
Calais. 

The  terms,  although  Edward  gave  up  his  claim  to  the  throne, 
were  of  great  material  benefit  to  the  English,  and  show  that  the 
Crown  was  a  pretext  rather  than  the  motive  of  the  war.  In  return 
for  this  renunciation  Edward  was  to  hold  in  full  sovereignty,  with- 
out homage  or  allegiance  of  any  sort,  Guienne,  Poitou  and  the 
surrounding  States  of  the  South-west,  and  in  the  North,  Ponthieu, 
Guisnes  and  Calais  with  its  environs.  France  was  no  longer  to 
help  the  Scotch  nor  England  the  Flemings.  The  other  clauses  re- 
lated to  the  conditions  of  King  John's  release  which,  as  we  have 
already  seen,  were  never  carried  out. 

Shortly  after  this  the  Black  Prince  established  his 
court  in  Bordeaux,  the  centre  of  his  independent  govern- 
ment as  Prince  of  Aquitaine. 


FRANCE  after  Peace  of  Breligny  1360 


English    Possessions 


144 


THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 


Black 

Death 


Internal         A  pause  in  the  war  furnishes  an  opportunity  for  con- 
of  France    sidering  the  actual  condition  of  the  country  during  the 
struggle.     Knightly  deeds  of  arms  sound  romantic  and 
picturesque  in  the  pages  of  Froissart,  but  there  was  a 
reverse  side  to  the  picture  and  a  very  black  one.     As 
the  war  dragged  on  the  King  fell  deeper  and  deeper  into 
financial  difficulties,  and  the  mistakes  already  made  by 
Financial    Philip  the  Fair  were  repeated  with  additions.     Dues  on 
*^^  ^  sales  continued,   a  gabelle  on  salt,  in  which  the  King 

had  a  monopoly  and  which  all  were  forced  to  buy  in 
large  quantities,  was  introduced,  and  the  coinage  was 
depreciated  to  an  unheard  of  extent.  Meanwhile  the 
burden  fell  almost  wholly  on  the  poorer  classes,  endless 
exemptions  being  sold  or  given  to  the  rich  and  noble. 
At  the  close  of  Philip  VI. 's  reign  pestilence  came  with 
all  its  horrors  to  augment  the  misery  of  the  country. 
The  Black  Death  wrought  fearful  havoc  here  as  through- 
out all  Europe,  some  estimate  the  deaths  at  one-half 
the  population ;  in  Paris  when  the  Plague  was  at  its 
worst  800  people  perished  in  one  day. 

Even  royal  oppression  and  deadly  sickness  were  not 
the  worst  evils  of  the  unhappy  country.  The  armies  on 
both  sides  were  largely  recruited  from  mercenary  soldiers 
of  different  countries  whose  only  livelihood  was  war, 
and  when  a  truce  for  a  time  put  an  end  to  the  struggle, 
these  brigands  as  they  were  called  were  let  loose  on 
society,  with  no  means  of  supporting  themselves  but 
pillage  and  extortion.  The  poor  people  fled  before  them 
as  from  a  prairie  fire,  women  and  children  sought  refuse 
in  caves  and  underground  hiding-places,  afraid  to  trust 
themselves  in  the  light  of  day.  Always  a  scourge,  they 
were  organised  into  regular  bands  or  grand  companies 
after  the  battle  of  Poitiers  and  began  a  career  of  system- 


FEENCH  HISTOEY,  1328-1380  145 

atic  plundering.     Establishing  themselves  in  some  feudal 
stronghold   they  not  only  ate  up  all   the  surrounding 
country,  but  amused  their  idle  moments  by  persecuting, 
torturing  and  robbing  the   wretched  peasants,   whom 
they  despised  as  rustic  clods ;  anything  they   thought 
could  be  done  with  impunity  to  Jacques  Bonhomme.    These 
soldiers  of  fortune  were  often  high-born  warriors,  and 
the    French  nobles  themselves  cared  nothing  for  the 
humble  tiller  of  the  soil,  except  in  so  far  as  he  was 
their  own  property  and  a  part  of  the  live-stock  on  their 
estates.     Such  a  condition  of  things  could  not  be  en- 
dured for  ever,  and  there  was  a  murmuring  and  stir- 
ring throughout  the  country,  which  might  have  warned 
the  selfish  feudal  baronage  that  the  people  had  rights 
which  would  one  day  be  asserted.     The  towns  were  the  Paris  and 
first  to  begin  the  struggle  against  privilege  and  oppres-  Marcef 
sion.     It  was  a  time  when  trade  was  beginning  to  be 
more  considered,  when  Guild  Associations  were  formed 
to  carry  it  on,  and  the  example  of  the  Flemings  and  Van 
Artevelde   may   also   have  had   some  influence   on  the 
burgesses   of   France.     It   was   Paris   alone,    however, 
which  was  able  to  take  any  leading  part,  the  French 
capital   being   always  considerably  in  advance   of  the 
rest  of  the  country.     The  real  leader  of  Paris  was  the 
Provost  of  the  Merchants,  who  from  a  simple  director 
of  the  trade  upon  the  Seine,  had  become  the  chief  official 
of  the  town  and  head  of  all  the  burgesses.     In   1355 
this  office  was  filled  by  Etienne  Marcel,  a  man  respected 
by  all,  and  chosen  on  several  occasions  as  leader  of  the 
Tiers  Etat,  as  the  representatives  of  the  towns  were 
called  in  the  States-General.     Both  Philip  VI.  and  John 
had   recourse   to   the    States-General,   in   the   hope   of 
getting   more   money   by   their    help.      The   spirit    of 
10 


146  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

growing  independence  is  shown  in  the  words  addressed 
to  the  King  by  the  towns  as  early  as  1847:  "Most 
powerful  Sire,  you  must  know  by  what  means  you  have 
conducted  your  M^ars,  in  which  you  have  lost  all  and 
gained  nothing  ".  Despite  their  efforts,  however,  they 
were  unable  to  introduce  improvements  in  the  system 
of  taxation,  the  nobles  were  too  strong  and  equality 
was  unattainable. 

When  the  capture  of  King  John  had  put  the  govern- 
ment in  the  hands  of  his  eldest  son  Charles,  a  boy  of 
Ordinance  eighteen,  an  opportunity  seemed  to  present  itself,  and 
March,       in  1357  a  sort  of  Charter  of  Liberties  was  drawn  up, 
^^^'  chiefly  through  the  agency  of  Marcel,  which  was  the 

first  real  attempt  to  check  the  royal  power,  and  to  give 
the  people  a  voice  in  government.  According  to  this 
document,  a  commission  of  thirty-six,  twelve  chosen 
by  each  Estate,  was  to  superintend  ever}'  branch  of  the 
administration  ;  the  States-General  were  to  meet  several 
times  in  the  year  and  to  be  consulted  on  all  matters  of 
importance ;  a  good  coinage  was  to  be  established,  and 
never  altered  again  without  consent  of  the  States ;  the 
nobles  were  to  be  restricted  in  their  privileges  and  do 
private  wars  were  to  be  allowed.  The  French  historian 
Michelet  says  of  this  Great  Ordinance,  that  it  was  more 
than  a  reform,  it  was  a  change  of  government ;  and 
that  though  it  w^as  a  change  for  the  better,  such  a  step 
was  dangerous  in  the  face  of  a  foreign  foe.  The  Prince 
or  Dauphin,^  as  he  was  called,  signed  the  document,  but 
it  was  obvious  that  he  did  so  under  compulsion,  and 

^  Dauphine  was  an  old  Imperial  fief  sold  to  France  in  1349,  from 
which  time  it  was  always  bestowed  on  the  eldest  son  of  a  reigning 
King,  who  thus  acquired  the  title  of  Dauphin. 


FKENCH  HISTORY,  1328-1380  147 

King  John  sent  from  England  to  annul  all  that  the 
States-General  had  achieved. 

Up  till  now  nothing  but  praise  can  be  given  to  Etienne 
Marcel ;  he  had  taken  the  lead  against  real  abuses,  he 
had  raised  the  spirit  of  the  Parisians  and  fortified  the 
town  in  case  of  foreign  attack,  he  had  drawn  up  a  scheme 
of  reform,  democratic  but  not  violent.  He  now  becomes 
involved  in  a  policy  less  possible  to  defend.  Once  started 
on  a  career  of  reform  it  is  very  easy  to  be  driven  into 
revolution.  His  first  mistake  was  to  join  hands  with  The  Jac- 
tlie  King  of  Navarre,  his  second  was  to  make  use  of  the  i358 
Jacquerie.  AVe  have  already  alluded  to  the  miseries 
suffered  by  the  peasantry  at  the  hands  of  the  nobles 
and  the  brigands ;  no  wonder  that  they  rose  in  revolt  at 
last,  and  no  wonder  that  in  that  revolt,  they  imitated 
only  too  closely  the  evil  deeds  of  their  own  oppressors. 
The  final  impulse  was  given  by  an  order  to  repair  the 
feudal  strongholds,  a  work  which  fell  to  the  lot  of  the 
serfs,  who  saw  in  these  castles  the  worst  engine  of  their 
oppression  and  who  rose  in  fury.  The  peasant  was 
still  half-civilised  and  brutalised  by  ill-treatment,  and  his 
revenge  for  past  oppressions  was  appalling.  Like  a  herd 
of  wild  beasts  the  Jacques  poured  over  the  North  of 
France,  burning,  ravaging,  killing ;  no  man,  woman 
or  child  was  safe  from  their  blind  thirst  for  blood.  It 
is  possible  that  Etienne  helped  to  stir  up  this  rising, 
although  it  is  certain  that  he  disapproved  strongly  of  its 
excesses :  so  did  the  leader  of  the  peasants  himself, 
Wilham  Calle,  who  tried  in  vain  to  organise  a  moderate 
revolt  to  obtain  remedies,  not  vengeance.  Whether  re- 
sponsible or  no  for  the  outbreak,  Etienne  encouraged 
an  attack  made  by  the  Jacques  on  Meaux,  where  the 
Dauphin's  wife  and  many  other  noble  ladies  had  taken 


148  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

refuge  in  strong  fortifications  known  as  the  Market.  The 
terror  of  the  besieged  was  great,  any  fate  they  felt  would 
be  better  than  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  enraged 
peasantry  ;  but  they  were  saved  by  the  opportune  arrival 
of  a  Gascon  force  returning  from  Prussia,  who  fell  upon 
the  villeins  "little,  black  and  badly  armed,"  and  saved 
the  situation.  Marcel  gained  little  through  these  allies, 
who  were  put  down  with  a  severity  which  equalled  their 
own  excesses.  Thousands  suffered  death,  Httle  trouble 
was  taken  to  distinguish  between  innocent  and  guilty; 
the  cry  of  the  nobles  was  "  Death  to  the  villeins,"  and 
Etienne  writes  that  cruelties  were  committed  "  worse 
than  ever  were  done  by  Vandals  or  Saracens".  The 
peasants  had  spoilt  a  good  cause  by  ignorant  violence, 
and  the  result  was  more  oppression  and  worse  treatment 
even  than  before. 
Murder  of  Meanwhile,  within  Paris  itself  things  were  going 
silais  ^^'  badly.  Marcel  had  made  himself  head  of  a  regular 
party,  distinguished  by  the  wearing  of  red  and  blue 
caps.  One  day,  followed  by  a  host  of  supporters,  he 
penetrated  into  the  Louvre  to  overawe  the  Dauphin, 
whom  he  found  in  the  company  of  the  two  Marshals  of 
France,  Clermont  and  Confians.  Etienne  addressed  the 
Dauphin  and  blamed  him  for  not  restoring  order  in  the 
Kingdom.  "  I  would  do  it  willingly,"  rephed  the  youth 
boldly  enough,  "  had  I  the  wherewithal."  Bitter  words 
ensued,  and  the  followers  of  the  Provost,  roused  to  fury, 
slew  the  two  Marshals  so  close  to  the  Prince's  side  that 
his  robe  was  splashed  with  the  blood  of  the  murdered 
men.  Marcel  made  him  wear  the  red  and  blue  cap  to 
save  his  life,  and  actually  dared  to  demand  his  approval ; 
"what  has  been  done,"  he  declared,  "  was  to  avoid  still 
greater  peril  and  was  by  the  will  of  the  people  ".     The 


FRENCH  HISTORY,  1328-1380  149 

Dauphin  could  do  nothing  at  the  moment,  but  Marcel 
had  not  strengthened  his  own  cause,  and  he  imprudently 
allowed  Charles  to  leave  Paris,  and  so  form  a  rallying 
point  for  all  enemies  of  the  burghers. 

The  defeat  of  the  Jacquerie  led  to  the  fall  of  the  Provost.  Siege  of 
The  nobles,  after  crushing  the  peasants,  remained  in 
arms  and  rallied  round  the  Eegent,  who  was  thus  pro- 
vided with  an  army  for  the  siege  of  his  own  capital. 
Etienne,  meanwhile,  went  a  step  farther  in  the  wrong 
direction  by  calling  the  Great  Companies  to  his  help. 
He  had  enemies  within  the  city  now  as  well  as  without, 
and  the  King  of  Navarre  was  a  very  doubtful  ally  ;  he  had 
brought  a  mercenary  army  for  defence  of  Paris,  but  was 
secretly  negotiating  with  the  Dauphin,  and  finally  with- 
drew with  his  troops  to  St.  Denis.  In  these  straits  the 
Provost  as  a  last  hope  planned  to  open  the  gates  of 
Paris  to  Charles  the  Bad  and  to  proclaim  him  King  of 
France.  He  was  found  at  midnight  with  the  keys  of 
the  city  by  Maillart,  one  of  his  own  magistrates,  and  in 
past  days  a  trusty  friend.  "  Etienne,  Etienne,  what  are 
you  doing  at  this  hour?"  he  asked.  "I  am  here  to 
guard  the  city  of  which  I  have  the  government."  "  By  Murder  of 
God,"  was  the  reply,  "you  are  here  for  no  good  at  this 3i'^[^j^;i„ 
hour  "  ;  and  pointing  to  the  keys  which  betrayed  his  ^'^'''^ 
purpose,  Maillart  slew  him  as  a  traitor  with  his  own 
hands,  whilst  his  followers  overpowered  those  of  the 
Provost.  So  perished  a  man  whom  it  is  very  hard  to 
judge.  His  early  career  was  full  of  promise,  but  he 
seems  to  have  become  narrower  and  more  selfish  in  his 
aims  as  time  went  on,  until  he,  who  had  striven  to  give 
a  real  constitutional  government  to  France,  died  in  a 
treacherous  endeavour  to  maintain  his  own  ascend- 
ancy.   But  it  is  easier  to  condemn  than  to  act  under  cir- 


150  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

cumstances  of  so  much  difBculty.    Etienne  Marcel  failed 
in  what  he  had  attempted,  but   there  was  no  one  else 
who  even  attempted  it. 
Charles  v.,      In  1364  the  death  of    King  John  put  his  son,  the 
1364-80      j^pggnt,  on  the  throne  as  Charles  V.,  a  very  different 
man   from  his  father  or  grandfather.      Pale  and  thin, 
delicate  from  a  childish  illness,  which  had  also  left  his 
right  hand  swollen  and  weak  so  that  he  could  not  hold 
a  lance,  he  was  not  the  popular  ideal  of  a  King  in  those 
warHke  days,  yet  he  won  for  himself  a  position  which 
neither  of  his  predecessors  had  held.     His  surname  of 
"the  Wise"   partly  came  from  his  love  of   books   and 
learning,  partly  from  his  cautious   and  cunning   char- 
acter ;  and  it  is  true  that  he  ruled  his  country  with  a 
wisdom  that  had  excellent  results.     He  did  nothing  to 
strengthen  the  popular  element  in  the  government,  the 
States-General  only  met  once  during  his  reign,  but  if  his 
rule  was  despotic,  it  was  capable  and  orderly  and  it  gave 
to  his  subjects  a  feeling  of  security  which  meant  more 
to  them  than  democratic  control.     Only  on  its  financial 
side  can  bad  mistakes  be  found  in  his  policy  ;  and  even 
here  he  won  popularity  by  checking  the  debasement  of 
the  coinage  which  had  done  so  much  harm.     In  the 
struggle  with  the  English  he  introduced  the  plan  of 
avoiding  battles,  and   so  leaving  the  enemy  to  all  the 
dangers  of  a  hostile  country  with  no  great  successes  to 
compensate  and  to  raise  their  spirits. 
Bertrand        In  the  war  the  King  was  ably  assisted  by  one  of  the 
duGuesciiiig^.g^^gg^  soldiers  of  the  age,  who  introduced  into  the 
French  army  some  of  the  discipline  and  subordination 
which  had  been  so  lacking  in  the  earlier  campaigns. 
Bertrand  du  Guesclin   came  of   a  good   Breton  stock, 
though  his  was  a  younger  branch  of  the  family  and  in 


FKENCH  HISTORY,  1328-1380  151 

rather  humble  circumstances.  As  a  child  he  was  so 
ugly,  so  rough  and  so  intractable  that,  though  the  eldest 
son,  he  was  disHked  by  his  parents.  His  mother  used  to 
make  him  sit  at  a  table  by  himself  that  she  might  not 
be  annoyed  by  his  odd  face  and  awkward  manners,  and 
the  younger  brothers  were  served  before  him.  On  one 
occasion,  when  Bertrand  was  only  six  years  old,  he  was 
so  furious  at  this  treatment  that  he  upset  the  whole 
table  and  behaved  like  a  mad  thing ;  but  a  nun  who  was 
in  the  house  soothed  the  boy  and  prophesied  great  things 
for  his  future,  after  which  he  was  treated  with  a  little 
more  consideration.  Many  tales  are  told  of  his  youth, 
As  a  boy  he  would  drill  the  village  children  and  con- 
duct hand-to-hand  battles ;  when  he  was  seventeen  he 
took  part  secretly  in  a  tournament  dressed  in  borrowed 
armour,  and  unhorsed  all  the  knights  who  rode  against 
him,  except  his  own  father  with  whom  he  refused  to 
fight.  In  the  end  his  visor  was  raised  and  he  was 
recognised,  to  the  intense  surprise  and  pride  of  the 
father,  who  had  shown  him  scant  consideration  hither- 
to, but  who  now  equipped  him  with  arms  suited  to 
his  position  and  let  him  take  part  in  knightly  exercises. 
Bertrand's  earliest  military  experience  was  in  the  Bre- 
ton war,  where  by  his  great  personal  strength  and  cour- 
age and  by  the  skill  with  which  he  conducted  skirmishes 
and  sieges  he  earned  a  reputation  which  won  him 
knighthood,  and  brought  him  before  the  notice  of  the 
highest  in  the  land,  whilst  he  gained  the  love  of  the 
people  by  his  constant  resistance  to  the  evil  deeds  of 
the  brigands. 

With  the  reign  of  Charles  V.  peace  was  temporarily  Battle  of 
established,  and  the  long  Breton  struggle  was  brought  end  of 
to  an  end.     At  the  Battle  of  Aurai,  Sir  John  Chandos,  ^^|:° '{3^4 


152  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

probably  the  ablest  of  all  the  English  captains,  was  vic- 
torious over  Dii  Guesclin  who  was  taken  prisoner ; 
Charles  of  Blois  himself  was  slain  on  the  field,  and  the 
aspect  of  affairs  thus  altered.  As  a  result,  John  de  Mont- 
fort,  son  of  the  lion-hearted  Joan,  was  recognised  as 
Duke,  and  for  a  time  the  country  was  at  rest. 
AVar  iu  Cessation  of  war,  however,  only  meant  added  misery 

to  France  as  long  as  the  ravages  of  the  free  companies 
continued,  and  it  was  partly  to  provide  some  occupation 
for  these  professional  soldiers  that  the  French  King 
took  part  in  a  Spanish  dispute.  On  the  throne  of  Cas- 
tile sat  Pedro  the  Cruel,  a  man  so  hated  by  all  that  his 
half-brother  Henry  of  Trastamare  found  ready  support 
when  he  disputed  his  title.  Pedro,  amongst  other  ill- 
deeds,  was  reputed  to  have  murdered  his  wife,  a  sister- 
in-law  of  Charles  V.,  and  this  gave  Henry  an  excuse 
for  claiming  his  help.  Bertrand,  at  the  head  of  a  large 
body  of  mercenaries,  was  sent  to  fight  for  him,  whilst 
Pedro  won  over  the  Black  Prince,  who  made  the  great 
mistake  of  his  life  in  consenting  to  assist  the  man  whom 
he  looked  upon  as  rightful  monarch.  Prince  Edward 
and  Chandos,  at  the  head  of  a  large  force  of  Gascons 
and  English,  were  successful  at  the  Battle  of  Najara  or 
Navaretta,  captured  Du  Guesclin  and  restored  Pedro. 
Nevertheless  it  was  an  ill  day  for  them.  As  they 
lingered  in  Spain  to  await  the  promised  payment  for  their 
services,  which  never  came,  the  whole  army  was  wasted 
with  disease,  and  their  leader  brought  back  with  him 
across  the  Pyrenees  a  shattered  constitution  and  an 
empty  purse.  The  former  was  past  cure  ;  the  latter  he 
tried  to  refill  by  a  heavy  hearth  tax  on  his  Principahty 
of  Aquitaine.  Money  he  must  have  if  he  were  to  fulfil 
the  promises  made  to  his  soldiers,  promises  which  Pedro 


FRENCH  HISTORY,  1328-1380  153 

had  entirely  repudiated  ;  but  the  expedient  was  fatal. 
The  Gascons  were  poor  and  proud,  the  nobles  were  not 
accustomed  to  be  taxed,  and  the  result  was  an  appeal  to 
Charles  V.  for  help  in  this  emergency. 

Pretexts  were  always  at  hand  for  a  renewal  of  the  Renewal  of 
war ;  both  sides  could  point  to  unfulfilled  terms  in  the  wS-.Yses 
Treaty  of  Bretigny,  and  a  phase  of  the  struggle  began 
in  which  every  advantage  turned  to  the  side  of  France. 
Bertrand  was  ransomed  and  made  Constable,  the  highest 
military  rank  in  the  country ;  Chandos  was  killed  in  a 
skirmish,  the  Black  Prince,  soured  by  ill-health,  lost  his 
last  chance  of  popularity  in  the  South  by  the  ghastly 
massacre  of  the  inhabitants  at  the  siege  of  Limoges,  and 
went  home  to  die.  Henry  of  Trastamare,  who  with  his 
own  hands  had  killed  Don  Pedro  in  a  quarrel,  was  now 
King  of  Castile,  and  aided  the  French  with  a  fleet  which 
blocked  the  coast  of  Aquitaine.  In  every  respect  the 
English  were  inferior  to  their  enemy,  and  the  end  of 
Edward's  reign  saw  his  possessions  reduced  to  a  little  ^."gi'/'i 
territory  round  Bordeaux  and  Bayonne,  and  the  town 
of  Calais.  Charles  V.  completed  his  successes  by  the 
final  humiliation  of  Charles  of  Navarre,  who,  having 
spent  his  life  in  playing  fast  and  loose  with  both  sides, 
ended  by  having  no  friends  at  all,  and,  crushed  between 
France  and  Castile,  died  ruined  and  impoverished,  de- 
spoiled of  all  his  rich  territories  in  France. 

The  French  King  was  nearing  his  own  end  ;  he  was 
not  to  die,  however,  without  one  failure.  In  1379  he 
tried  to  unite  Brittany  to  his  own  demesne,  with  the  re- 
sult that  he  roused  against  himself  a  united  and  success- 
ful opposition,  which  re-instated  John  of  Montfort  more 
strongly  than  ever.  The  death  of  his  great  Constable  Death  of 
also  was  a  loss  not  easily  made  good.     Bertrand  died,,iij^ 


154  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

while  besieging  the  brigands  at  Chateauneuf,  and  the 
keys  were  given  into  his  hands  as  he  lay  on  his  death- 
bed.    "  No  place  did  he  besiege  which  did  not  surrender 

Death  of    to  him,  living  or  dead  !  "  writes  an  admiring  Chronicler. 

1380  ^^  'In  a  very  few  weeks  he  was  followed  to  the  grave  by 
Charles  V.,  young  still  in  years,  but  worn  out  by  disease. 
The  country  was  left  in  a  very  different  condition  from 
that  in  which  he  found  it :  but,  though  he  had  done 
much,  the  seeds  of  future  trouble  were  still  left,  in  those 
three  small  pieces  of  English  territory. 

ADDITIONAL  BOOKS 

Kitchin :  History  of  France,  vol.  i. 

Conan  Doyle  :  Sir  Nigel  and  The  l^^ite  Company. 

Charlotte  M.  Yonge  :  Lances  of  Lynwood. 


T 


CHAPTEE  VIII 

EMPIRE  AND  PAPACY,  1414-1453 

HE  little  town  of  Constance  saw  many  a  strange  and  Couucii  of 

•'  °  Coustance, 

impressive  sight  towards  the  close  of  the  year  I4i4-i4i8 
1414.  Ever  since  June,  preparations  had  been  in  pro- 
gress for  the  reception  of  the  greatest  Council  the 
Middle  Ages  had  ever  known.  Towards  the  close  of  the 
year,  princes  and  prelates,  nobles  and  merchants,  with 
a  mass  of  lesser  people  of  all  nations  and  all  professions 
flocked  into  the  place ;  the  hill-roads  shone  with  many- 
coloured  processions,  and  the  lake  was  gay  with  boats 
conveying  great  men  and  their  followers.  Not  only 
those  taking  part  in  affairs  came  to  the  Council  ; 
Constance  became  the  scene  of  an  ecclesiastical  con- 
ference, a  political  congress  and  a  great  world  fair. 
Amusements  of  all  sorts  were  held  in  the  streets ; 
festivities,  tournaments  and  banquets  lightened  the 
graver  business  of  the  meeting,  and  an  idle  multitude 
found  in  it  an  occasion  for  diversion  and  money-making. 
The  Council  was  a  great  epoch  in  the  history  of  the 
Church.  Meetings  had  often  been  held  before  this 
to  treat  of  ecclesiastical  matters  ;  Popes  had  summoned 
prelates  to  advise  and  consult ;  at  Pisa  cardinals  had 
met  to  discuss  the  claims  of  rival  pontiffs :  but  Con- 
stance was  something  more  than  these.  A  General 
Council  was  now  asserting  power  to  settle  the  claims  of 
three  rival  Popes  without  adhering  to  the  side  of  any  ; 

155 


156  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

it  was  declaring  itself  superior  to  the  Papacy,  and  was 
taking  into  its  own  hands  the  reform  of  the  Church. 
Three  great  questions  were  before  this  vast  assemblage. 

Business  of  First  and  foremost  there  was  the  settlement  of  the  Papal 
Schism,  for  unity  must  be  restored  to  divided  Chris- 
tendom ;  secondly  the  whole  Church,  the  Papacy  itself, 
the  lives  of  the  clergy,  the  discipline  of  the  monasteries, 
all  were  in  need  of  the  most  stringent  reform  ;  and  finally 
the  new  doctrines  which  were  disturbing  the  minds  of 
men,  of  which  the  chief  teacher  was  John  Huss,  dis- 
ciple of  the  English  Wycliffe,  must  l)e  rooted  out,  and 
all  heretical  ideas  suppressed  once  and  for  ever.  Such 
a  programme,  accompanied  as  it  was  by  many  points  of 
minor  importance,  would  provide  work  for  several  years 
to  come. 

Amongst  the  great  processions  which  were  welcomed 
to  Constance,  three  above  all  others  excited  universal 
interest.     Towards   the   close   of   October   came   Pope 

Arrivals  at  John  XXIIL,  making  his  way  through  the  snow,  sur- 
rounded by  his  cardinals,  and  protected  by  Frederick 
of  Habsburg,  the  greatest  prince  and  land-owner  in  that 
region.  On  Christmas  Day  the  Emperor  Sigismund 
arrived,  travelling  before  day-break  that  he  might  be  in 
time  for  the  solemn  Mass,  at  which  he  himself  read  the 
Gospel,  beginning  with  the  appropriate  words :  "  There 
went  out  a  decree  from  Caesar  Augustus  ".  The  sermon 
delivered  on  this  occasion  by  Peter  d'Ailly  must  have 
been  uncomfortable  hearing  for  the  proud  Pope  John, 
who  was  still  hoping  to  maintain  his  position.  The 
text  taken  was  :  "  There  shall  be  signs  in  the  Sun  and  in 
the  Moon  and  in  the  Stars ".  The  Sun  said  the 
preacher,  represented  the  Pope,  the  Moon  the  Emperor 
and  the  Stars  the  Cardinals ;  but  unjust  ambitions,  evil 


EMPIRE  AND  PAPACY,  1414-1453  157 

deeds  and  negligent  rule  would  make  but  a  phantom  of 
the  sun ;  and  again,  "  The  Holy  Trinity  of  the  Divine 
Persons  is  not  more  adorable  than  a  Trinity  of  Popes 
is  abominable,"  and  he  also  stated  in  clear  words  that 
the  Council's  power  was  superior  to  that  of  the  Pope. 

Between  these  two  arrivals  a  much  more  humble  pro- 
cession found  its  way  into  the  town,  which  nevertheless 
met  with  almost  as  hearty  a  reception,  for  crowds 
flocked  to  meet  the  thin,  bearded  man  in  his  simple 
black  robes,  who  was  escorted  by  three  Bohemian 
nobles  responsible  for  his  safety.  John  Huss,  under 
a  promise  of  safety  from  the  Emperor,  had  come  to 
Constance  to  maintain  his  views  before  the  Assembly  of  Treatment 
Christendom,  and  to  clear  himself  from  the  charge  of 
heresy.  His  safe  conduct  was  of  little  avail,  for  shortly 
after  his  arrival  he  was  taken  from  his  house,  despite 
the  vehement  protestations  of  one  of  the  attendant 
nobles,  and  after  a  questioning  before  Pope  and  Car- 
dinals, flung  into  a  loathsome  prison,  which  nearly 
caused  his  death ;  and  it  was  only  to  save  him  for 
further  humiliation  that  the  conditions  of  his  captivity 
were  lightened  for  the  time. 

Meanwhile  the  position  of  Pope  John  was  far  from  Measures 
reassuring.     Although    still  nominally  the  head  of  thejohn" 
Council,  a  murmur,  ever  growing  more  and  more  insist-  ^xm- 
ent,  was  making  itself  heard  in  favour  of  his  abdication. 
Cardinal  d'Ailly  went  so  far  as  to  declare  that  the  Council 
had  full  power  to  force  him  to  resign.     Then  followed  an 
appalling  statement,  probably  all  too  true,  of  the  many 
misdeeds  of  the  Pope,  whose  life  had  been  notoriously 
wicked.     Fearful    lest   this   private   accusation    should 
be  published  to  the  world,  John  consented  to  abdicate, 
and  in  clear  terms  and  with  a  calm  demeanour  he  him- 


158  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

self  read  before  the  Emperor  and  assembled  Cardinals 
a  promise  to  resign  his  power  on  the  day  that  Bene- 
dict XIII.  and  Gregory  XII.  should  do  the  same.  There 
was  general  rejoicing ;  Sigismiind,  impulsive  and  theatri- 
cal, threw  himself  uncrowned  at  the  feet  of  the  Pope  and 
kissed  them  gratefully  :  a  proposal  for  the  election  of  a 
successor  followed  at  once.  Doubtless  John  hoped  to 
obtain  his  own  re-election,  but  his  character  was  too 
well-known  for  that.  The  English  representative  at  the 
Council,  Eobert  Hallam  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  exclaimed 
that  "the  Pope  deserved  to  be  burnt  at  the  stake". 
Hopeless  of  swaying  the  Council,  John  determined  to 
leave  Constance  and  see  what  could  be  done  elsewhere. 
A  request  to  leave  on  account  of  his  health  having  been 
refused,  he  contrived  his  own  escape.     The  opportunity 

Flight  of  came  when  a  great  tournament  was  being  held,  to 
°^^  which  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  flocked,  leaving 
the  streets  deserted.  The  Pope  in  the  humble  disguise 
of  a  groom,  rode  out  of  the  town  unnoticed,  and  taking 
boat  on  the  Rhine  reached  Schaffhausen,  the  castle  of 
his  friend  Frederick  of  Austria,  who  had  been  privy  to 
his  flight.  Terror  and  disorder  were  left  behind  him ; 
some  thought  the  Council  was  thereby  dissolved,  many 
feared  the  curse  which  he  might  lay  upon  the  city,  but 
others  were  ready  to  take  advantage  of  the  occasion. 
The  Emperor  denounced  the  Austrian  Duke  as  a  traitor, 
and  Gerson,  Chancellor  of  the  Assembly,  proclaimed  the 
Council  to  be  the  supreme  and  independent  authority 
of  Christendom.    A  short  while  after,  the  formal  deposi- 

Deposition  tion  of  John  XXIII.  was  pronounced  by  the  Council ; 

XXIII. ,      and  the  once  powerful  Pope,  after  vain  attempts  to  evade 

■'^^^  his   pursuers,   was  captured   and  imprisoned ;    first  at 

Gotleben  just  outside  Constance,  and  finally  in  the  castle 


EMPIRE  AND  PAPACY,  1414-1453  159 

of  Heidelberg,  When  fully  humiliated  and  no  longer 
dangerous  he  was  released  and  made  a  Cardinal,  but  his 
death  followed  immediately  after. 

Meanwhile  John  Huss  had  been  awaiting  his  trial, 
also  a  prisoner  at  Gotleben.  For  some  time  past  Bo-  The 
hemia  had  been  the  centre  of  new  ideas.  The  whole  movement 
authority  of  the  Church  had  been  shaken  by  the  dis- 
sensions in  the  Papacy  and  the  impossibility  of  respect- 
ing the  Head  of  the  spiritual  world  ;  whilst  all  through 
the  Church  had  spread  the  disastrous  effects  of  weak- 
ness at  the  centre.  Abuses  of  all  sorts  were  common  ; 
the  clergy  were  rich  and  neglected  their  duty,  they  held 
so  many  posts  that  they  could  not  possibly  fill  them  all 
satisfactorily ;  people  and  parishes  were  neglected  and 
suffering.  In  England  during  the  previous  century,  John 
WycHffe  had  boldly  denounced  the  sins  of  the  Church,  had 
struck  at  the  whole  system  of  Ecclesiastical  government 
declared  that  the  authority  of  the  Pope  was  not  only 
excessive  but  unnecessary,  and  attacked  some  of  the  doc- 
trines of  the  Church,  especially  transubstantiation  and 
prayers  to  saints.  The  writings  of  Wycliffe  introduced 
into  Bohemia  had  great  influence  and  were  eagerly 
studied  at  the  University  of  Prague  where  Huss  had 
done  much  to  make  them  known.  In  some  matters 
Huss  did  not  go  so  far  as  the  English  teacher,  par- 
ticularly in  the  question  of  transubstantiation,  but  he 
also  urged  reformation  of  abuses  and  superstitions 
and  especially  denounced  the  sale  of  indulgences  com- 
manded by  the  Pope.  He  also  wrote  that  Christ  Him- 
self was  the  Head  of  the  Church  and  the  Scriptures 
the  basis  of  belief.  There  was  plenty  of  material  here 
for  a  condemnation,  and  from  the  first,  despite  Sigis- 
mund's  worthless  safe-conduct,  his  fate  was  already  de- 


160  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

Trial  of  cided.  Nevertheless  his  trial  dragged  on  for  many  a 
long  day,  and  Huss  promised  to  withdraw  his  own 
opinions  should  the  Cardinals  be  able  to  disprove  them ; 
but  in  total  absence  of  proof  he  held  his  own  without  a 
waver,  and  refused  firmly  though  modestly  to  condemn 
Wycliffe's  teaching,  or  to  disown  his  own  writings. 
Even  here  Huss  was  not  without  supporters.  His 
friend  and  disciple  Jerome  of  Prague  followed  him  to 
Constance,  only  to  be  flung  into  prison.  On  one  oc- 
casion John  of  Chlum,  a  Bohemian  noble,  boldly  pro- 
claimed:  "In  my  Castle  I  would  have  defended  him 
for  a  year  against  all  the  forces  of  Emperor  or  King ; 
how  much  more  lords  mightier  than  I,  with  Castles 
far  more  impregnable  !  "  Sigismund  basely  deserted 
him.  Perhaps  it  was  a  hard  choice  between  giving 
up  the  man  he  had  promised  to  protect,  and  seeing 
the  Council,  which  he  had  done  so  much  to  collect 
and  from  which  he  hoped  such  great  things,  fall  to 
pieces,  its  work  half  done.  In  any  case  his  conduct 
was  despicable  even  in  his  own  eyes,  and  when  Huss 
said :  "  Freely  I  came  hither  under  the  safe-conduct  of 
the  Emperor,"  Sigismund  is  said  to  have  blushed  deeply. 
His  attitude  was  now,  however,  decided  enough.  De- 
claring that  he  had  only  promised  to  protect  him  so 
that  he  might  answer  his  enemies'  charges,  and  that  he 
could  not  defend  a  heretic,  he  went  on  to  say :  "  Far 
from  defending  you  in  your  errors  and  in  your  contu- 
macy, I  will  be  the  first  to  Hght  the  fire  with  my  own 
hands  ".  On  another  occasion  the  Emperor  urged  that 
not  only  Huss  but  all  his  followers  should  be  condemned, 
and  the  whole  sect  exterminated  root  and  branch. 

On   the   (3th   July,    1415,   sentence   was  finally  pro- 
nounced  in  the  Cathedral  of   Constance,      Sigismund 


EMPIEE  AND  PAPACY,  1414-1453  161 

sat  on  the  throne  with  Princes  and  Cardinals  round  him, 
and  the  proceedings  opened  with  Mass,  during  which 
Huss  as  a  heretic  stood  in  the  porch.  Then  followed 
the  reading  and  condemnation  of  certain  articles,  said 
to  contain  the  doctrines  of  Wycliffe  and  Huss,  In  vain 
he  endeavoured  to  protest  that  some  of  the  accusations 
were  totally  false.  After  that  came  the  degradation — 
one  by  one  his  priestly  robes  were  taken  from  him  and 
his  tonsure  obliterated,  whilst  on  his  head  was  placed  a 
tall  cap  of  paper,  covered  with  painted  devils.  Judg- 
ment was  then  pronounced :  "  The  Church  has  no 
more  to  do  with  you.  We  dehver  your  body  to  the 
secular  arm,  your  soul  to  the  devils  in  hell."  The 
secular  judge  pronounced  the  final  sentence  of  death  Execution 
by  burning  as  a  heretic,  and  Huss  went  calm  and  un-  eth  July, 
moved,  singing  and  praying,  to  his  doom.  "We  know 
not,"  said  those  who  stood  near,  "  what  this  man  may 
have  done,  we  only  know  that  his  prayers  to  God  are 
excellent."  His  ashes  were  flung  into  the  lake  and  his 
clothes  destroyed,  that  no  relics  might  be  treasured  up 
by  his  sorrowing  disciples,  but  the  uselessness  of  such 
measures  to  efface  his  influence  was  soon  to  be  shown. 

The   martyrdom    of  Huss  was   followed  by  that  of  Trial  and 
Jerome  of  Prague,  who  as  we  have  seen  had  followed  of  Jerome 
his  master  to  Constance   and   to  captivity.      He  was  j^j^'^^^"^' 
treated  with  so  much  cruelty  in  his  prison,  that  in  sheer 
bodily  weakness  he  gave  way  at  his  first  examination 
and  denied  the  doctrines  of  Wycliffe  and  of  Huss.     Soon, 
however,  he  regained  his  strength,  and  with  admirable 
courage  deliberately  destroyed  all  hope  of  escape.     He 
proclaimed  his  faith  with  an  eloquence  and  shrewdness 
and  a  clear-headedness  perfectly  marvellous  after  a  year 
passed  in  severe  confinement.     There  was  to  be  no  doubt 
11 


162  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

now  as  to  his  attitude.  "  This  sinful  retractation  I  now 
fully  retract,  and  am  resolved  to  maintain  the  tenets  of 
Wychffe  and  of  John  Huss  to  death,  believing  them  to 
be  the  true  and  pure  doctrine  of  the  Gospel,  even  as  their 
lives  were  blameless  and  holy".  Like  Huss  he  went 
calmly  to  the  stake,  and  when  the  executioner  turned  to 
light  the  heaped-up  pile  at  his  back,  he  called  to  him : 
"  Kindle  it  before  my  eyes ;  had  I  feared  your  fire,  I 
should  never  have  come  to  this  place  ".  He  sang  hymns 
with  a  steady  voice  until  the  flames  leapt  up  around  him. 
Much  still  remained  for  the  Council  to  do  :  the  Papal 
question  was  not  yet  solved.  John  was  deposed ; 
Gregory  XII.  had  submitted  and  died ;  Benedict  still 
remained  obstinate.  He  refused  to  come  in  person  to 
defend  his  claims  before  the  Council,  unless  he  should 
be  received  as  Pope  ;  he  declared  that  any  acts  of  reform 
decreed  at  Constance  would  be  null  and  void ;  and,  dis- 
regarding his  formal  deposition,  he  established  himself 
at  Peniscola  in  Spain  and  kept  up  a  shadowy  Court  and 
an  imaginary  authority  until  his  death  some  years  later. 
Meanwhile  the  Church  and  the  Council  badly  needed  a 
head,  although  Sigismund  would  gladly  have  carried  all 
through  on  his  sole  authority  ;  but  the  Cardinals  insisted, 
Martin  V.,  and  after  some  disputes  a  new  Pope,  Martin  V.,  was 
chosen  from  the  important  Eoman  family  of  the  Colonna. 
Thus  ended  the  Schism  and  a  temporary  reaction  in 
favour  of  Church  authority  and  Papal  power  began,  for 
the  Council  had  chosen  a  man  who  would  never  submit 
to  control  and  who  meant  to  make  his  position  one  of 
real  weight  and  importance.  As  Milman  says :  "In 
creating  a  Pope  of  high  character  it  had  given  itself  a 
master.  It  might  dictate  to  a  John  XXIII. ,  it  must 
submit  to  a  Martin  V." 


EMPIRE  AND  PAPACY,  1414-1453  163 

The  Council  of  Constance  had  achieved  httle  of  its 
great  designs.  There  were  many  reasons  for  this  f  aihire- 
One  great  difficulty  in  the  way  of  reform  had  been  the 
danger  of  making  any  changes  whilst  the  Church  was 
still  without  a  head.  The  great  strength  of  the  Papacy 
lay  in  its  continuity :  there  had  been  an  unbroken  line 
of  Popes  claiming  to  be  successors  of  St.  Peter,  according 
to  tradition  the  first  Bishop  of  Rome.  The  moderate 
party  hesitated  to  take  any  steps  which  might  weaken 
this  claim  and  so  endanger  the  longed-for  unity  of  the 
Church.  Another  obstacle  to  Conciliar  action  was  the 
difficulty  of  finding  any  policy  to  suit  the  different  nations 
whose  interests  were  involved.  Pohtical  questions  were 
inevitably  bound  up  with  religious,  and  the  representa- 
tives of  the  various  States  could  not  agree  on  a  common 
scheme  of  reform.  The  efforts  of  the  Council  had,  for 
the  time,  brought  peace  to  the  Church,  but  only  by  the 
re-establishment  of  Papal  despotism. 

The  new  Pope  was  not  a  really  great  personality.  He 
did  not  seize  the  unrivalled  opportunity  for  placing 
himself  at  the  head  of  a  Church  reformed,  united, 
and  spiritualised.  Nevertheless,  he  was  a  wise,  level- 
headed statesman,  who  knew  how  to  recover  much  of 
the  Papal  authority  lost  in  previous  years,  and  to  obtain 
control  over  the  national  Churches  which  had  been 
struggling  towards  independence.  His  period  of  rule 
was  largely  occupied  with  re-establishing  himself  in  Italy 
which  was  a  scene  of  the  wildest  confusion.  The  Duke  Disorder  in 
of  Milan  was  warring  in  Lombardy  :  in  Naples  under 
Joanna  II.  the  question  of  succession  was  giving  rise  to 
endless  struggle,  condottieri  generals  were  fighting  for 
one  side  or  the  other  and  also  for  themselves — Braccio 
and  Sforza  being  the  most  important.     The  Pope  had 


164  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

a  conference  with  Braccio  at  Florence,  and  it  was  there 
that  he  was  rendered  furious  by  the  popular  feeling  which 
expressed  itself  in  a  common  street  song, 

Braccio  the  Great 
Cunquers  every  State  ; 
Poor  Pope  Martin 
Is  not  worth  a  farthing. 

Policy  of    The   despised   Pope,  however,   soon  made   himself  re- 
spected.    He  re-established  himself  in  Rome,  and  re- 
stored  order  in   the  turbulent   city ;  he  recovered   the 
States  of  the  Church,  and  made  his  power  felt  in  outly- 
ing  countries,    even   in   England   where  he  appointed 
Cardinal  Beaufort  his   legate,  and   exercised   more  au- 
thority than  any  Pope  had  done  since  Innocent  III.    At 
home  his  chief  efforts  were  directed  towards  reforming 
the  body  of  Cardinals  and  reducing  their  power,  and  in 
this  he  had  some  success  ;  but  there  were  disorders  in 
Christendom,  especially  the  Hussite   war  in  Bohemia, 
which    remained    a    dangerous    problem,    and    Martin 
Summons    Summoned  a  Council  to  meet  at  Basle  to  consider  this 
of  Basle"    ^^^  othcr  questious.     His  death,  however,  prevented  his 
1431  ^^''    participation  in  this  great  assembly,  and  his  successor 
Euc'enms    Eugenius  IV.  was. left  to  cope  with  the  difficulties  of  the 
iv"  1431-   situation. 

4/ 

.Journeys        ^^^^  Emperor  Sigismund  had  not  been  quietly  residing 
of  Sigis-     at  Constance  during  the  whole  long  period  of  the  Council. 

iiiund  ...  „  . 

His  restless  spirit  desired  fresh  fields  m  which  to  expend 
his  energy,  and  when  Benedict  XIII.  proved  so  obstinate, 
and  was  supported  by  the  States  of  Spain  and  Portugal, 
Sigismund  set  out  to  try  the  effects  of  Imperial  authority 
on  these  opponents  of  unity.  Always  short  of  money 
the  Emperor  sold  Brandenburg  to  Frederick,  the  first  of 
the  famous  HohenzoUern  Margraves,  confirmed  Swiss 


EMPIRE  AND  PAPACY,  1414-1453  165 

conquests  in  return  for  supplies  and  set  out  for  Spain, 
where  after  long  negotiations  he  did  succeed  in  procur- 
ing the  submission  of  Aragon,  Castile  and  Navarre, 
followed  shortly  after  by  that  of  Portugal,  which 
completed  the  union  of  the  West.  His  return  journey 
took  him  through  France,  where  he  hoped  to  pose  as 
mediator  in  the  great  quarrel  with  England,  which  had 
just  come  to  a  head  in  the  Battle  of  Agincourt. 

Whilst  in  Paris,  he  was  led  to  a  display  of  authority 
which  infuriated  the  French,  and  forms  a  good  illustration 
of  his  views  as  to  Imperial  supremacy.  Invited  as  an 
honoured  guest  to  watch  proceedings  in  the  Parliament 
of  Paris,  the  great  French  law  court,  a  case  came  up  in 
which  one  party  was  unable  to  be  heard  because  unequal 
in  rank  to  his  adversary.  Sigismund  at  once  knighted  the 
petitioner,  as  though  he  were  the  sovereign  and  overlord 
of  the  country.  France  was  indignant,  but  England  to 
which  the  Emperor  next  proceeded,  took  steps  to  pre- 
vent such  an  exercise  of  sovereign  rights  ;  showing  that 
any  claims  of  Imperial  overlordship  were  totally  out  of 
date  by  this  time,  if  indeed  the  EngHsh  would  ever  have 
admitted  them.  Before  Sigismund  might  put  foot  on 
Enghsh  soil,  Humphrey  of  Gloucester,  younger  brother 
of  the  King,  rode  into  the  sea  sword  in  hand,  and  de- 
manded a  promise  that  he  would  perform  no  act  of 
sovereignty  whilst  in  the  kingdom.  The  promise  given, 
the  guest  was  received  with  the  greatest  pomp  and  cere- 
mony, magnificently  lodged  in  the  Palace  of  Westminster 
and  only  departed  after  a  six  months'  visit  and  amidst 
signs  of  the  greatest  affection  from  Henry  V.  But  al- 
though it  is  said  that  the  two  monarchs  could  scarcely 
tear  themselves  from  each  others  arms,  when  farewell 
was  said  the  English  King  had  not  ceased  his  prepara- 


166  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

tions  for  the  French  war,  and    the   Emperor  had   not 
succeeded  in  effecting  the  peace  of  Christendom. 

At  home  once  more,  Sigismund  found  himself  sur- 
rounded by  difficulties  ;  the  very  extent  of  his  territories 
meant  numerous  enemies  and  want  of  money  was  a  con- 
stant drawback.  The  story  goes  that  on  one  occasion 
he  left  his  dirty  linen  in  pledge  being  totally  unable  to 
Character  pay  the  bill  for  his  night's  lodging.  His  were  not  quali- 
mund  ties  such  as  fitted  him  for  a  position  of  such  danger, 
in  which  tact  as  well  as  strength  was  necessary.  Sigis- 
mund was  in  many  ways  a  very  attractive  personality. 
Tall  and  handsome,  with  fair  hair  and  blue  eyes,  he  was 
extremely  well  educated  and  could  discourse  easily  in 
Tehee,  Latin,  German,  French  and  Italian ;  although 
he  never  forgot  his  Imperial  dignity,  he  knew  how  to  be 
familiar  and  courteous,  was  a  very  good  talker  and 
prompt  at  repartee.  Unfortunately  he  had  external 
qualities  rather  than  solid  virtues.  He  was  lacking  in 
real  strength  and  perseverance  and  above  all  in  stability  : 
his  word  could  not  be  trusted,  and  little  respect  could 
be  accorded  to  a  man  who  could  forget  his  promises  and 
break  his  alliances.  He  would  have  made  a  very  good 
show  King,  but  he  lived  at  a  time  when  burning  ques- 
tions needed  solution,  and  when  ceremonies  and  ambi- 
tious projects  could  not  take  the  place  of  steady  purpose 
and  real  hard  work. 
Hussite  The  greatest  danger  left  by  the  Council  to  Sigismund 

31  '  and  Germany  was  the  Hussite  war.  The  martyrdom 
of  Huss  and  Jerome  had  inflamed  not  discouraged  the 
reforming  party  in  Bohemia,  and  in  1419  open  war- 
fare broke  out  in  Prague.  One  of  the  demands  of 
the  Bohemian  reformers  was  the  administration  of  the 
Communion  in  both   kinds,  from  which  they  obtained 


EMPIRE  AND  PAPACY,  1414-1453  167 

the  name  of  Utraquists.  The  beginnings  of  revolt  were 
caused  when  a  procession,  headed  by  a  priest  bearing 
the  ChaHce,  had  stones  flung  at  it  from  a  window  of  the 
townhall,  whither  the  Utraquists  had  repaired  to  de- 
mand the  release  of  some  of  their  numbers.  The  cup  was 
knocked  from  the  priest's  hands,  and  the  mob,  roused 
to  sudden  fury,  poured  into  the  house,  slew  the  burgo- 
master and  flung  all  the  magistrates  from  the  window 
on  to  the  weapons  of  those  below.  The  news  of  this 
disturbance  was  too  much  for  King  Wenzel  weakened  as 
he  was  by  a  life  of  self-indulgence.    He  was  struck  with  Death  of 

.  Wenzel 

apoplexy  and  died  on  the  spot  "  with  a  great  shout  and  1419    ' 
roar  as  of  a  lion  ". 

Sigismund   was    now   King  of    Bohemia ;    but   busy 
in  protecting  Hungary  against  the  Turks,  he  took  no 
decided  steps  at  once  to  quell  the  Bohemian  disturb- 
ance, and  hoped  to  smooth  matters  over  by  negotiation. 
Perhaps  had  the  rebels  been  merely  disciples  of   the 
moderate  teaching  of  Huss,  this  would  have  been  pos- 
sible ;  but  a  far  more  violent  party  had  gradually  been 
forming,  known  as  Taborites.     These  had  been  organised 
in  large  open-air  meetings  and  were  anxious  to  break 
loose  from  all  authority  both  of  Church  and  Empire.  Hussite 
Two  Bohemian  nobles  headed  this  party,  both  of  great  ^'''''^^''^ 
zeal  and  ability.     Nicholas  of  Husinec,  a  man  of  practic-  Nicholas  of 
al  wisdom  and  foresight,  and  the  one-eyed  Ziska,  a  gen-andZiska 
eral   and   tactician  of  extraordinary   merit.     The    war 
became  a  mixture  of  religious  and  political  struggle  ;  for 
besides  taking  up  arms  to  defend  their  faith,  the  Bohem- 
ians were  also  fighting  for  their  nationality  against  Sigis- 
mund, whom  they  would  not  recognise  as  their  King. 

The  long  struggle  which  now  began  in  real  earnest  Character 

.  -,•    •    •  .        r-      1   J^  of  the  War 

falls  roughly  mto  three  divisions.     At  hrst  the  war  was 


168 


THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 


Offensive 


Civil 


Defensive  defensive.  The  Hussites  were  infuriated  and  united 
by  the  measures  taken  against  them,  by  the  Crusades 
as  they  were  called  which  were  arranged  by  the  Pope 
and  Sigismund,  and  by  the  fact  that  a  German  army 
was  sent  to  put  them  down,  thereby  inflaming  their 
national  ardour  and  lending  vigour  and  purpose  to  their 
resistance.  Later,  from  1427  onwards,  the  war  became 
offensive  on  their  side ;  to  hold  their  own  it  was  neces- 
sary to  weaken  their  adversaries  by  carrying  war  into  the 
enemy's  country,  and  the  terror  of  their  arms  extended 
into  Saxony,  Silesia,  Austria  and  even  further.  Finally 
the  divisions  which  from  the  first  threatened  to  disunite 
the  Bohemian  party  became  more  and  more  numerous 
and  accentuated,  and  the  struggle  degenerated  into  a 
civil  strife  between  moderates  and  extremists  which 
eventually  enabled  the  Emperor  to  re-estabhsh  his  au- 
thority and  bring  the  war  practically  to  a  close. 

The  programme  of  the  Hussites,  formulated  in  1420, 
and  recognised  as  a  sort  of  creed  for  the  whole  party, 
was  known  as  the  Four  Articles  of  Prague.  These  de- 
manded complete  liberty  of  preaching,  communion  in 
both  kinds  for  laymen  as  well  as  priests,  the  exclusion 
of  the  clergy  from  temporal  power  and  undue  wealth, 
and  the  immediate  repression  of  open  sins,  for  com- 
mission of  which  the  clergy  should  be  liable  to  secular 
penalties.  This  was  the  confession  of  faith  put  forward 
by  the  moderate  party,  Utraquists  or  Praguers  as  they 
came  to  be  called.  The  Taborites  went  much  further 
and  had  more  social  and  political  aims  ;  some  amongst 
them  advocated  a  regular  communistic  system,  in 
which  there  should  be  no  private  property,  but  goods  of 
all  sorts  should  be  held  in  common.  With  the  procla- 
mation of  war  against  them,  difi'erences  were  for  the  time 


Tlie  Four 
Articles  of 
Prague 


EMPIRE  AND  PAPACY,  1414-1453  169 

forgotten  in  the  common  clanger ;  and  in  the  strength 
of  this  united  effort,  Sigismund  and  the  German  army 
were  driven  out  of  Bohemia  by  a  series  of  glorious 
victories.     Three  Crusades  were  defeated  in  1420,  1421  Hussite 

.  .       -    ,         ,      victories, 

and  1422  ;  and  so  great  was  the  terror  mspn-ed  by  the  1420-22 
invincible  Hussites  that,  as  one  Chronicler  says  :   "  The 
Germans  had  such    a  loathing   for  heretics   that  they 
could  not  bring  themselves  to  strike  them,  or  even  to 
look  them  in  the  face  ". 

These  victories  were  due  in  great  measure  to  theZiska's 
training  and  leadership  of  Ziska.  He  knew  how  to  con-  policy 
vert  raw  peasants  into  disciplined  soldiers  ready  to 
hold  their  own  against  feudal  forces ;  he  paid  great  at- 
tention to  artillery  and  was  one  of  the  first  generals  to 
turn  it  to  real  account ;  but  above  all  he  made  use  of 
the  old  war  chariots  and  waggons  according  to  a  method 
all  his  own  and  totally  baffling  to  the  enemy.  These 
waggons,  attached  by  chains,  formed  a  defence  on  the 
march,  or  a  fortification  for  the  camp,  or  even  a  weapon 
of  offence  when  driven  at  full  speed  amongst  the  ranks 
of  the  enemy,  or  filled  with  stones  and  rolled  down  upon 
them  from  above.  The  waggons  used  to  be  arranged 
according  to  letters  of  the  alphabet,  and  if  the  enemy 
got  entangled  amongst  them  they  could  never  find  the 
way  out,  whilst  the  Hussites,  knowing  the  key,  could 
twist  through  them  with  ease.  In  manoeuvring  and 
management  of  troops  Ziska's  abihty  was  astonishing, 
especially  when  it  is  remembered  that  in  1421  a  wound 
in  his  only  sound  eye  rendered  him  totally  blind ;  he 
never  for  a  moment  relaxed  his  energetic  and  vic- 
torious career,  but  was  carried  into  the  battle  on  one 
of  his  celebrated  waggons.  In  one  way,  indeed,  this 
misfortune  of  their  leader,  by  helping  to  put  more  re- 


170  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

sponsibility  on  the  officers  who  carried  out  his  com- 
mands, trained  them  all  the  more  fully  in  the  art 
of  war.  Ziska,  unfortunately,  was  more  of  a  general 
than  a  statesman,  and  his  violent  zeal  embittered  party 
strife  and  helped  to  prevent  that  complete  union  of  the 
Hussites  which  might  have  led  to  an  earlier  settlement 
of  the  struggle. 

Having  driven  Sigismund  from  the  country,  Bohemia 
was  at  first  organised  under  a  temporary  government, 
Korybut  of  and  began  to  look  about  for  a  new  King.     The  crown 
was  offered  to  Ladislas  of  Poland,  and  though  he  refused 
it,  he  sent  his  nephew  Korybut  to  assist  the  rebels,  and 
he  was  received  in  Prague  as  ruler  of  the  land.     His 
position  was,  however,  a  difficult  one,  for  Ziska  and  the 
Taborites  were  not  really  favourable,  and  the  idea  of 
thus  establishing  a  Slav  monarchy  failed.     His  with- 
drawal was  followed  by  terrible  internal  discord ;    the 
Praguers  were  anxious  to  make  some  sort  of  a  com- 
Civii  War  promise,   and  recalled   Korybut,  who  had   schemes  of 
Ziska  and   putting  himself  at  the  head  of  the  moderate  party  and 
*^g"^^°t^y"_^- effecting   a   union    with   the   Church.     The    Taborites 
1424  were  furious  at  the  idea  of  making  any  concession,  and 

the  year  1424  is  known  as  "  Ziska's  bloody  year,"  for  he 
turned  his  forces  against  the  moderate  party  and 
wrought  terrible  havoc  in  the  land.  His  death  from 
plague  in  the  same  year  did  nothing  to  quiet  these  dis- 
sensions, but  only  added  to  divisions  by  splitting  up  the 
Taborite  party.  His  special  followers,  "  orphans  "  they 
were  called  to  typify  their  grief  at  his  loss,  chiefly  a 
social  and  political  body,  did  not  agree  with  the  extreme 
Taborites,  a  religious  section  who  denied  transubstantia- 
tion  and  all  Church  control. 
Prokop  the      These  divisions  were  not  yet,  however,  sufficient  to 

Great 


EMPIRE  AND  PAPACY,  1414-1453  171 

hinder  Hussite  success.  A  new  leader  appeared,  Prokop 
the  Great,  a  priest  who  never  himself  wielded  a  weapon, 
but  who  was  well  able  to  lead  his  troops  to  victory  and 
to  e^iforce  disciphne  and  obedience.  He  was  of  middle 
height,  strongly  built,  with  a  very  sun-burnt  face,  large 
eyes  and  fiery  aspect ;  to  his  skill  as  a  general  he  added 
much  theological  knowledge  and  an  eloquent  tongue, 
which  he  used  to  good  purpose  later  at  the  Council  of 
Basle.  For  the  present,  however,  war  was  his  trade  and  War  car- 
he  began  his  career  with  great  success  m  Saxony,  which  saxony 
opened  the  period  of  offensive  warfare.  He  also  routed 
the  new  Crusading  army  led  against  the  Bohemians  by 
Cardinal  Beaufort,  who  in  vain  tried  to  rally  his  panic- Defeat  of 

,       T-  .    ,  ,       ,  .  Cardinal 

stricken  troops,  tearing  the  Imperial  standard  to  pieces  Beaufort, 
in  his  indignation  at  their  cowardice.  A  further  victory 
at  Tauss  in  1431  completely  overpowered  the  fifth 
Crusade  and  ended  the  last  effort  to  put  down  the  in- 
trepid Hussites  by  force  of  arms.  The  only  hope  now 
was  to  settle  the  dispute  by  a  Council. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Martin  V.,  just  before  his  Couucii  of 
death,  had  arranged  for  the  meeting  of  a  great  Church  i43i-iii9 
Council  at  Basle,  and  Cardinal  Cesarini  had  been  ap- 
pointed to  preside.     The  Council  had  a  difficult  opening, 
for  the  new  Pope  Eugenius  IV.  tried  to  dissolve  it. 

It  was  only  after  much  controversy  and  great  firmness 
on  the  part  of   the  leaders  of    the   Assembly  that   his 
opposition  was  withdrawn,  and  to  this  he  was  forced 
because  of  the  dangers  which  surrounded  him  in  Italy, 
which  made  him  fear  to  arouse  further  enmity.     The  Rome  re- 
Council  was  deliberating  whilst    the   Pope  was  escap- ^gaiust 
ing  from  a  Roman  revolt.     This  he  did  by  the  aid  of  a  fyf  1431 
pirate,  who  took  him  down  the  Tiber  in  a  crazy  old  boat. 
Eugenius  lay  at  the  bottom  of  this  covered  by  a  shield. 


172  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

while  the  populace  ran  along  the  bank  hurling  stones 

and    shooting  arrows.     By  daring  and    good   luck   the 

pirate  succeeded  in  bringing  his  valuable  cargo  safely  to 

a  larger  vessel,  and  the  Pope  at  last  found  shelter  and 

respect  in  the  city  of  Florence. 

Bohemiau       The  first  act  of  the  Council  of  Basle  was  to  invite  the 

to  Bask^°"  Bohemians  to  send  a  deputation  to  endeavour  to  arrange 

^^^^  terms.    In  January,  1432,  seven  nobles  and  eight  priests 

headed  by  Prokop  the  Great,  and  preceded  by  a  banner 

with  the  motto  "  Truth  conquers  all,"  entered  the  city, 

whilst  the  populace  flocked  to  gaze  upon  the  little  troop 

and  their  escort  of  horsemen  with  their  strange  dress 

and  fierce  faces.     The  conference  was  conducted  with 

great  moderation  and  considerable  ability  on  both  sides, 

and  when  argument  threatened  to  become  bitter,  Cesari- 

ni  knew  how  to  pacify  the  disputants  with  extraordinary 

tact  and  wisdom.     After  long  and  difficult  consultation 

a  basis  of  compromise  was  agreed  upon,  and  at  Prague 

Compacts    compacts  were  drawn  up  and  accepted  by  the  moderate 

hernia,       party  in  Bohemia.     Liberty  of  preaching  was  permitted 

so  long  as  it  did  not  exceed  what  ecclesiastical  superiors 

approved ;  communion  in   both   kinds  was  allowed    to 

those  who    demanded  it ;  crimes  were  to  be   punished 

"  according  to  the  law  of  God  and  the  institutes  of  the 

Fathers  "  ;  but  the  Clergy  were  not  to  be  excluded  from 

the  possession  of  property.     Unfortunately  this  agree- 

Civii  War  meiit  did  not  meet  with  the  approval  of  the  more  extreme 

'  party  in  Bohemia,  and  Prokop  at  the  head  of  Taborites 

and  Orphans  took  up  arms  against  the  moderates.     At 

Battle  of    Lipan    a   terrible   battle   was   fought   between   fellow- 

ipan,     4  (3Q^jj^j.yjj^gj-^^  which  raged  a  whole  day  and  a  whole  night. 

Prokop  and  his  men  refused  to  surrender  and  were  cut 

down  in  tremendous  numbers ;  the  result  was  a  victory 


EMPIRE  AND  PAPACY,  1414-1453  173 

for  the  party  of   conciliation,  and    a  step  towards  the 
final  settlement.       There  were  not  only  religious  but 
also  political  difficulties  to  be  overcome,  and  it  was  not 
until   1436  that    Sigismund  was  able  to  enter  Prague  Sigismund 
and  formally  assume  the  Bohemian  crown.     The  keys  BXemia,"^ 
and  seal  of  the  town  were  given  into  his  hands  and  he  ^^^^ 
on  his  side  delivered  to  the  magistrates  a  document  con- 
firming all  the  old  privileges  and  rights  of  the  city. 

Sigismund' had  now  obtained  all  his  crowns.  Before 
attending  the  Basle  Council  he  had  wished  to  add  to  his  Sigismund 
dignity  by  receiving  formal  coronation  in  Italy,  and  had  1431^  ^' 
set  out  in  1431  for  Milan  to  acquire  the  iron  crown  of 
Lombardy.  This  he  did ;  but  the  Duke  of  Milan,  at  that 
time  Filippo  Maria  Visconti,  either  from  fear  or  jealousy, 
would  not  be  present  at  the  ceremony,  excusing  himself 
on  the  absurd  plea  that  if  he  saw  Sigismund  his  joy 
would  kill  him.  The  Emperor  was  not  on  good  terms 
with  the  Pope,  since  he  was  strongly  in  favour  of  the 
Council,  which  Eugenius  was  endeavouring  to  dissolve. 
In  the  end,  however,  they  waived  their  differences,  and 
Sigismund  came  to  Rome  to  receive  the  Imperial  crown  Coronation 
His  commanding  figure,  smiling  face  and  flowing  beard 
were  much  admired  by  the  Italians,  and  the  ceremony 
was  successfully  accomplished.  On  the  head  of  the 
Emperor  was  first  placed  a  Bishop's  mitre,  then  the 
golden  crown,  and  whilst  he  held  the  Imperial  sword, 
Eugenius  bore  the  crucifix.  They  left  the  Church  to- 
gether, Sigismund  leading  the  Papal  mule  for  a  few 
paces,  before  mounting  his  own  more  martial  steed. 

The  Bohemian  crown,  the  last  which  Sigismund  ac- 
quired, was  not  altogether  a  peaceful  possession,  for  though 
open  war  was  ended,  troubles  and  dissensions  were  to 
continue  for  many  a  long  day,  and  plots  were  formed 


174  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

against  the  new  monarch  which  were  encouraged  by  his 
own  wife.     Sigismund,  however,  was  not  long  to  enjoy 
triumphs  or  to  struggle  with  dangers.    His  death  is  curi- 
ously characteristic  ;  a  display  of  very  real  courage  em- 
ployed for  dramatic  effect.    Feeling  his  end  draw  near,  he 
first  attended  Mass  robed  and  crowned  in  all  his  Imperial 
Death  of     splcndour,  and  when  that  was  over  grave  clothes  were 
9th' Dec"' '  placed  above  his  grand  vestments,  and  thus  arrayed  he 
^^^^  awaited  death  seated  on  his  throne,  where  on  the  evening 

of  the  same  day  he  passed  away.     For  three  days  his 
corpse  was  left  seated  according  to  his  command  :  "  that 
men  might  see  that  the  lord  of  all  the  world  was  dead 
and  gone  ".    Although  it  is  impossible  to  avoid  smiling  at 
the  almost  childish  vanity  of  Sigismund,  and  his  striving 
after  effect,  it  is  nevertheless  true  that  his  aims  were 
high,  his  schemes  of  peace,  reformation  and  unity,  noble 
and  desirable  ;  only  he  was  too  impatient  and  too  change- 
able to  carry  through  any  concerted  plan.     His  worst 
fault,  however,  was  lack  of  truthfulness  ;  his  word  could 
not  be  relied  upon,  and  no  good  intentions  could  atone 
for  such  extreme  un trustworthiness. 
Empire  of       AH  this  time  the  Council  of  Basle  was  continuing  its 
and  the      sessions,  and  more  and  more  inclining  towards  attacks 
ChSeh      npon  the  Papal  authority,  despite  the  efforts  of  Cesarini 
to  modify  its  violence.     It  was  no  wonder  that  Eugenius 
was  ready  to  take  the  first  opportunity  to  assert  his  in- 
dependence.    An  occasion  presented  itself  in  connection 
with  the  negotiations  now   opened   with   the  Greeks. 
John  VI.,  head  of  the  Eastern  Empire  estabhshed  at 
Constantinople,  was  in  a  very  dangerous  position  owing 
to  the  inroads  of  the  Turks,  who  were  getting  nearer 
and  nearer  to  his  capital  city,  and  his  one  hope  lay  in 
assistance  from  Western  Europe.     It  had  long  been  the 


EMPIRE  AND  PAPACY,  1414-1453  175 

cherished  wish  of  the  Papacy  to  establish  a  union  be- 
tween the  Eastern  and  Western  Churches,  which  had 
only  come  together  very  temporarily  in  the  time  of 
Gregory  X.,  and  John  in  his  great  need  for  help,  contem- 
plated a  sacrifice  of  Greek  independence  in  return  for 
active  support.  Eugenius,  keenly  anxious  to  win  honour 
as  negotiator  of  so  great  a  matter,  urged  that  the  Council 
should  transfer  itself  to  Italy  as  more  convenient  for  the 
Greek  envoys,  and  when  the  Basle  Assembly  refused  this 
proposal,  he  summoned  a  Council  of  his  own  at  Ferrara  council  of 
to  conduct  the  important  business.  The  Eastern  1438^*'^' 
Emperor  himself,  and  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople, 
as  head  of  the  Greek  Church,  came  in  person  to  the  con- 
ference with  twenty-two  Bishops.  They  landed  in 
Venice  where  the  Doge  received  them  with  the  greatest 
magnificence,  his  vessel  adorned  with  scarlet  and  gold 
and  golden  lions  on  the  prow.  At  Ferrara  Eugenius 
met  them,  and  considerable  difficulty  was  caused  over 
the  exact  ceremonial  details  which  were  to  be  observed. 
The  Patriarch,  for  example,  was  furious  at  the  idea  of 
kissing  the  Pope's  foot,  and  after  a  whole  day  had  been 
wasted  in  discussing  this  vital  question,  he  was  let  ofl:' 
with  a  salutation  on  the  Papal  cheek  ;  even  this  had  to 
be  done  privately,  that  none  might  be  surprised.  An- 
other great  difficulty  was  the  arrangement  of  seats  at 
the  Council.  It  had  been  suggested  that  the  Greeks  and 
Latins  should  occupy  opposite  sides,  and  the  Pope  should 
be  enthroned  as  a  link  between  the  two.  This  again 
offended  the  susceptible  embassage,  and  in  the  end  the 
Greek  Emperor  was  given  a  throne  facing  that  of  the 
Pope,  with  the  Patriarch  behind  him.  This  did  not 
satisfy  the  Patriarch,  for  he  was  not  allowed  to  adorn 
his  seat  with  curtains  as  he  wished,  in  order  that  it  might 


176  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

resemble  the  Papal  throne.     At  last  all  was  set  in  order 
and  the  conference  began.     There  were  really  no  great 
points  of  doctrine  in  dispute  between  the  two  Churches 
but  long  hours  of  discussion  were  spent  over  small  details 
and  verbal  differences.     The  real  difficulty  was  that  the 
Eastern  Church  was  unwilling  to  submit  to  the  Papal 
Supremacy,  and  it  was  only  with  the  most  extreme  re- 
luctance that  this  at  last  was  done,  as  the  only  chance 
Council      of  help  in  the  immediate  emergency.     The  Council  had 
to^Fioren^ce  been  transferred  to  Florence  and  there  in  1439  the  Greeks 
accepted  terms  of  union,  and  the  Emperor  consented  to 
Union  of    admit:  "  AVe  recognise  the  Pope  as  sovereign  pontiff, 
Greek  and  y^cegerent  and  vicar  of  Christ,  shepherd  and  teacher  of 
Churches,  Q,l\  Christians,  ruler  of  the  Church  of  God,  saving  the 
privileges  and  [rights  of  the  Patriarchs  of  the  East  ". 
The  pacification  was  little  more  than  nominal.     The 
Greeks  at  home  were  furious  at  the  terms,  no  great 
European  force  was  raised  to  oppose  the  Turks,  and  no 
permanent  results  seemed   to    follow  the  union.     For 
Eugenius,  however,  the  Council  of  Florence  had  been 
extremely  advantageous.     He  won  much  prestige  as  the 
creator  of   unity  in   Christendom,   and  this  had  been 
done  in  an  Italian  Council  completely  under  his  authority. 
The  Council  of  Basle  had  no  corresponding  successes  to 
show  for  its  work,  and  was  stirred  to  fresh  measures  of 
Council  of  independence.    In  1439  its  members  went  so  far  as  to  de- 
FeUx  v!*as  posc  Eugeuius,  and  to  start  another  Schism  by  electing  a 
us9^^^^'  Pope  of  their  own.    It  was  necessary  to  choose  some  one 
with  money,  and  they  turned  to  Amadeus  Duke  of  Savoy, 
a  widower  with  several  children  and  great  political  in- 
fluence :  his  wife  had  been  a  daughter  of  Philip  the  Bold 
of  Burgundy,  and  his  daughters  had  been  married  to  the 
Duke  of  Milan  and  the  Duke  of  Anjou.     Of  late  years, 


EMPIRE  AND  PAPACY,  1414-1453  177 

however,  he  had  withdrawn  into  rehgious  seckision,  and, 
though  still  a  layman,  founded  a  sort  of  order,  adopting 
a  grey  monkish  cloak  and  a  gold  cross;  a  writer  of 
the  time  thinks  that  there  was  quite  as  much  luxury 
as  religion  in  his  comfortable  hermitage. 

Amadeus  accepted  the  offers  of  the  Council,  and  took 
the  name  of  Felix  V.,  but  begged  that  he  might  be 
allowed  to  keep  his  beard.  This  he  was  eventually  in- 
duced to  sacrifice,  as  it  gave  him  so  strange  an  appear- 
ance amongst  all  the  clean-shaven  Priests  and  Cardinals. 

To  meet  this  new  difficulty,  Eugenius  felt   that   he  Germany 
must   win    the   active   support    of    Germany   and    the  Empire 
Emperor.     Sigismund's  death  had  ended  the  male  line 
of  the  great  house  of  Luxemburg.     In  accordance  with  Albert  ii., 

,  .  .  ,  ,        ^,  ,  .  ■  *  n       ^1438-40 

his  Wishes,  the  Electors  chose  as  his  successor  Albert 
of  Austria,  the  representative  of  the  famous  house  of 
Habsburg,  so  long  excluded  from  the  Imperial  dignity. 
Albert  was  a  ruler  of  great  promise,  but  unfortunately 
he  barely  survived  his  election  two  years. 

His  death  cleared  the  way  for  a  very   inferior  sue- prg^j^^.j^,]. 
cessor.     Frederick  III,   cousin  of  the  dead  monarch,  ii^-.  1440- 
belonged    to    the    younger   branch    of    the    Habsburg 
family,  and  was  a  youDg  man  of  an  easy-going  temper, 
which  did  not   lead  him  to  take  a  very  decided  policy 
one  way  or  the  other.     Perhaps  his  inactivity  was  not 
altogether  due  to   indolence.     He    was    by    no    means 
lacking   in   brains,    and   sometimes    found   that    to  do 
nothing  was  the  best  way  of  avoiding  difficulties.     The 
Pope  had  a  very  able  envoy  to  arrange  terms  of  friend- 
ship with  Germany,     Aeneas  Sylvius  Piccolomini,  who  Aeneas 
was  to  play  a  most  important  part  in  later  history,  had  ^  ""'^ 
already  distinguished  himself  at  Basle  and  elsewhere. 
He  came  of  a  family  noble  though  poor,  and  had  been 
12 


178  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

well  educated  at  Siena.     He  obtained  work  as  secretary 
for  various  Churchmen,  whom  he  accompanied  to  the 
Council   of   Basle,    and   his   ability   and  extraordinary 
powers  of  persuasion  led  to  his  being  employed  on  im- 
portant embassies.     He  had  also  literary  distinctions, 
Germany    was  crowued  with  the  laurel- wreath  as  Imperial  poet, 
the  Roman  and  is  the  author  of  a  vivid  account  of  the  great'events 
ope,  1447  •  j^  which  he  took  part.     Owing  largely  to  his  tact  and 
exertions,  Germany  was  restored  to  obedience  just  be- 
fore the  death  of  Eugenius  IV.,  and  this  alliance  was 
Pope         confirmed  and  strengthened  by   the   succeeding   Pope 
v.,  1447-    Nicholas  V.,    who   was    able  to   arrange  terms  almost 
^^  wholly  to  the  advantage  of  the  Papacy.     Nicholas  was 

a  very  able  man,  who  did  much  to  restore  Papal  prestige, 
although  his  outward  appearance  was  anything  but 
impressive.  He  was  small  and  insignificant,  with 
weak  legs,  a  harsh  voice  and  a  very  pale  face,  disfigured 
by  protruding  lips  ;  only  his  large  black  eyes  expressed 
something  of  his  commanding  intellect.  His  Concordat 
End  of  the  with  the  Emperor  gave  the  final  blow  to  the  feeble  exist- 
B°gi""2449ence  of  the  Council  of  Basle.  Felix  V.,  who  had  gained 
little  by  his  empty  and  expensive  title  was  readily  trans- 
formed once  more  into  Amadeus  of  Savoy ;  and  the 
Council  was  quietly  dissolved,  having  first  secured  its 
dignity  by  electing  Nicholas  as  Pope. 

In  1450  a  magnificent  Jubilee  at  Rome  was  the  out- 
ward  and   visible   sign   of  the   renewed   power  of  the 
Roman  Pontiff.     A  further  triumph  for  Nicholas  was 
the  arrival  of  Frederick  III.  in  Rome  for  coronation  at 
his  hands. 
Coronation      "Formerly,"  writes   Aeneas    Sylvius,  "the  Imperial 
rickTiL  in  authority  surpassed  all,  to-day  that  of  the  Pope  is  by 
Rome,  1452 far   the   greater."      The   ceremony    was  one  of   great 


EMPIRE  AND  PAPACY,  1414-1453  179 

magnificence,  but  for  Frederick  it  was  quite  an  unpro- 
fitable triumph.  He  spent  a  very  plesant  time  in  Italy, 
wandered  happily  about  Eome  to  enjoy  the  sights,  and 
bought  various  articles  of  luxury  in  the  shops  of  Venice  ; 
but  he  had  no  solid  result  to  show. 

Here  then  we  must  leave  Pope  and  Emperor.  The  Condition 
Empire  had  been  steadily  declining.  Not  only  werepUe 
ideas  of  universal  rule  abandoned  and  Italy  practi- 
cally independent,  but  the  disunion  of  Germany  was  a 
great  source  of  weakness.  Outlying  possessions  had 
been  gradually  lost.  France  had  been  extending  her 
Eastern  frontier ;  Burgundy,  in  the  hands  of  an  impor- 
tant French  family,  was  becoming  very  independent ; 
and  now  the  Turks  were  threatening  great  danger  in  the 
East.  Frederick  HI.  was  not  a  man  to  conquer  diffi- 
culties ;  but  he  is  important  in  German  history  never- 
theless, because  of  his  consolidation  of  Habsburg 
territories.  From  this  time  onward,  with  one  short  ex- 
ception, the  Imperial  office  remained  in  the  hands  of 
this  family,  until  the  Empire  fell  before  Napoleon  I. 
Even  now  the  Habsburg  house  rules  over  the  present 
Empire  of  Austria. 

Nicholas  V.,  on  the  other  hand,  seemed  to  have  re- Failure  of 
stored  the  papacy  to  something  of  its  old  dignity.     The  clna^move- 
attempts  to  rule  the  Church  by  Councils,  independent'"®"* 
of  and  superior  to  the  Pope,  had  failed.     Basle  was  the 
last  General  Council  ever  held  of  the  undivided  Western 
Church.     The  Popes  were  strong  and  attempted  for  a 
time  to  pose  as  the  leaders  of  learning  and  the  heads  of 
the  coming  Kenaissance.      But    this  victory  was    less 
complete  than  it  appeared  at  the  time.     The  Concihar 
movement  had  failed,  not  so  much  because  of  Papal 
power,    as    because   of    the    development    of    national 


180  THE  END  OF  THE  IVtIDDLE  AGE 

Churches.  It  was  this  which  had  rendered  it  impos- 
sible to  arrive  at  any  satisfactory  solution  at  Constance 
as  well  as  at  Basle.  It  was  impossible  to  make  arrange- 
ments for  the  whole  of  Christendom,  when  the  Church 
in  England,  in  France  and  in  Germany  each  had  its  own 
ideas  as  to  what  was  best,  and  each  wished  to  maintain 
its  own  rights  and  independence.  Thus  the  apparent 
reaction  in  favour  of  orthodoxy  and  Papal  authority  was 
soon  to  give  way  before  national  opposition  and  the  grow- 
ing desire  for  reform  and  liberty  of  thought.  In  1453 
the  Protestant  Revolution  was  very  close  at  hand. 

ADDITIONAL  BOOKS 
Bryce :  Holy  Roman  Empire. 

Alice  Greenwood :  Empire  and  the  Papacy  in  the  Middle  Ages. 
Milinan  :  History  of  Latin  Christianity. 


CHAPTER  IX 

ITALY,   1382-1453 

THE  history  of  Italy,  at  the  close  of  the  fourteenth  General 
and  during  the  fifteenth  centuries,  presents  the  of  Italian 
same  complications  and  difficulties  as  before.     It  is  still  ^,-f  pe^;"/, 
the  history  of  divided  States,  struggling  for  their  own 
advancement;    and  yet   the   feuds   and   friendships   of 
State   with   State  renders   it   impossible  to  study  one 
without  the  others,  or  to  regard   them   as   completely 
separate  unities.     A  few  general  hues  may  perhaps  be 
laid  down    to   explain  in  some  degree   the   course   of 
events,  and  to  act  as  guiding  threads  through  the  maze 
of  Italian  politics. 

The  Popes  had  now  returned  to  the  States  of  the 
Church,  but  with  their  authority  considerably  reduced 
by  absence,  and  in  constant  difficulty  with  their  Eoman 
subjects  at  home,  whilst  Anti-Popes  and  the  claims  of 
the  Great  Councils  were  occupying  them  abroad.  Thus 
the  Pope  was  ready  to  side  with  any  faction  in  Italy, 
which  would  repudiate  his  rival  or  help  him  to  assert 
his  temporal  power,  to  which  he  more  particularly  de- 
voted his  energies. 

Milan  until  1447  was  in  the  powerful  hands  of  the  Milan 
Visconti,  who  had  estabHshed  so  formidable  a  Duchy 
in  Lombardy  that  they  might  aspire  with  some  hope  of 
success  to  rule  over  all  Northern  Italy.     Here  we  read 

181 


182  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

of  extraordinary  cunning  and  cruelty  in  member  after 
member  of  this  hated  family,  of  intrigues  with  other 
cities,  of  absorption  of  smaller  towns ;  the  leading  mo- 
tive throughout  being  desire  for  territorial  aggrandise- 
ment, and  fear  of  any  other  State  growing  in  power, 
above  all  Venice,  the  only  dangerous  rival  to  their 
dominion  in  the  North. 

Venice  Venice   was   now   becoming   more  and  more  of   an 

Italian  power,  owing  to  the  growth  of  her  territory  on 
the  mainland,  which  brought  her  into  rivalry  with 
Milan,  and  also  Florence,  each  State  being  bitterly 
jealous  of  the  other. 

Genoa  Geuoa,  the  old  rival  of  Venice,  could  never  really  equal 

her  in  commerce  after  the  war  of  Chioggia,  though 
her  jealousy  still  glowed  hotly.  She  was  in  subjection 
for  the  most  part,  either  to  France  or  to  Milan,  who 
competed  with  her  for  supremacy,  and  against  whom 
she  struggled  with  occasional  success.  In  1411  she  had 
freed  herself  from  French  rule  only  to  acknowledge  the 
supremacy  of  Milan ;  from  the  latter  she  obtained 
liberty  for  a  short  period  in  1435. 

Florence  Of  all  these  States  Florence  had,  perhaps,  the  most 
important  history,  but  it  was  a  history  of  gradual  sub- 
jection and  loss  of  liberty.  At  the  close  of  the  four- 
teenth century,  the  struggle  between  the  lower  and 
upper  classes  ended  in  the  complete  victory  of  an  oli- 
garchy under  the  Albizzi,  which  led  in  its  turn  to  the 
more  valid  though  more  despotic  authority  of  the  Medici 
family,  won  for  it  in  our  period  by  the  celebrated  Cosimo. 
The  external  relations  of  Florence  were  chiefly  deter- 
mined by  the  desire  for  expansion,  and  by  jealousy  of 
Venice  and  Milan.  Under  Cosimo  de'  Medici  a  sort  of 
"balance  of  power"  policy  was  adopted,  which  enabled 


ITALY,  1382-1463  183 

Florence  to  more  than  hold  her  own  in  the  struggle  for 
wealth  and  importance. 

Another  feature  peculiarly  characteristic  of  Italian  CondotUeri 
history  was  the  influence  and  power  of  the  great  co7i- 
dottieri.  Such  Generals  as  Braccio,  Sforza,  Piccinino, 
were  fully  as  important  as  Dukes  of  Milan  or  Kings 
of  Naples.  All  sides  fought  with  paid  armies,  and 
success  depended  on  ability  to  pay  these  troops,  and  on 
the  good  understanding  which  could  be  established  with 
their  leaders.  These  chiefs  had  become  more  than  mere 
commanders  of  great  companies  ;  in  many  cases  they 
were  rewarded  with  castles  and  lands,  became  great 
feudal  lords,  and  competed  for  power  with  the  old  terri- 
torial Princes.  The  way  in  which  the  condottieri  fought 
first  for  one  party  then  for  another  adds  a  further  com- 
plication to  the  study  of  this  perplexing  but  fascinating 
period. 

Events  in  Naples  have  been  alluded  to  from  time  to 
time  in  connection  with  other  matters  ;  but  for  the  sake  History  or 
of  clearness  it  may  be  useful  to  repeat  them  shortly  in  ^''^pies 
one  consecutive  narrative. 

Charles  III.,  it  will  be  remembered,  had  succeeded  in  Charles 
establishing  himself  on  the  throne  of  Naples  and  had  gg^"'  ■^^®^' 
put  to  death  Queen  Joanna  I.,  whose  adopted  heir  Louis 
of  Anjou  had  failed  to  enforce  his  claims.     Charles,  not 
content  with  one   Kingdom,   turned  his  ambitions  to 
Hungary,  where  the  elder  branch  of  his  house  had  held 
sway.     The  death  of  Lewis  the  Great  left  the  land  to 
his  daughter  Maria,  who  was  betrothed  to  Sigismund, 
younger  brother  of  the  Emperor  Wenzel.     The  Queen-  charies 
dowager   Ehzabeth    was    Eegent.      (See   Genealogical  ^5^*^'^,^^ 
table,    p.    274.)      A   party   of    Hungarian   barons,    dis-^*" Hungary 
contented    with   this  arrangement,   offered   the    throne 


184  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

to  Charles.  He  hastened  to  Hungary  and  was  actually 
crowned,  apparently  with  the  consent  of  Elizabeth  and 
her  daughter,  who  attended  the  ceremony,  but  showed 
signs  of  extreme  grief  and  wept  bitterly.  Despite  the 
kind  treatment  which  they  received  from  the  new  King, 
Murder  of  they  never  really  abandoned  their  claims,  and  Elizabeth 

Charles  -^    .       ^  -,  ,      ^ 

III.,  1386  contrived  the  murder  of  the  unsuspecting  monarch. 
The  assassination  of  Charles  left  the  throne  of  Naples 
once  more  a  prey  to  the  struggles  of  rival  claimants. 

Ladisias,         Ladislas,  son  of  the  late  King,  was  eventually  success- 

1386-1414     „,.,,-,.         ,  .  .  ,  -r        •        .    *      • 

tul  m  holding  his  own  against  a  second  Liouis  oi  Anjou ; 
but  the  claims  of  the  latter  were  not  renounced,  and  re- 
mained a  weapon  ready  to  the  hand  of  any  one  who  wished 
to  oppose  the  young  Neapolitan.  Ladislas  was  a  man 
certain  to  have  enemies.  Brave,  energetic,  and  spirited, 
he  had  the  most  soaring  ambition,  which  carried  his 
wishes  beyond  Italy  to  the  very  Imperial  crown  itself ; 
his  banners  flaunted  the  proud  device  :  "  Aut  Caesar,  aut 
Nihil  ".  As  a  step  in  his  desired  career  of  aggrandise- 
ment, he  seized  the  States  of  the  Church,  nominally  as 
the  friend  of  the  Pope.  The  City  of  Florence  determined 
to  oppose  him,  and  once  more  turned  to  the  Angevin 
candidate,  who  was  proclaimed  King  by  the  Council  of 
Battle  of  Pisa,  and  came  in  person  to  maintain  his  rights.  De- 
Secca,  1411  spite  a  complete  victory  at  Kocca  Secca,  Louis  of  Anjou, 
owing  to  delay  in  following  up  his  success,  gained  nothing 
from  the  battle.  Ladislas  himself  said  :  "  The  first  day 
after  my  defeat,  my  Kingdom  and  my  person  were  both 
in  the  power  of  the  enemy ;  the  second  day  my  person 
was  safe,  but  they  could  still  if  they  wished  have  become 
masters  of  my  Kingdom  ;  the  third  day  all  fruit  of  the 
victory  was  lost".  There  was  no  more  trouble  from 
this  quarter  and  not  many  years  later  Louis  died  at 


ITALY,  1382-1453  185 

Rome.  Ladislas  himself  had  but  three  more  years  to 
Hve ;  years  chiefly  occupied  in  quarrels  with  John 
XXIII.,  who  was  driven  from  Rome.  His  death  in 
1414  was  followed  by  the  expulsion  of  all  Neapolitans 
from  the  Papal  Capital. 

Competition  now  took  a  new  form  :  there  were  rivals  Joanna  ii. 
not  for  the  throne  but  for  the  hand  of  the  Queen.  Joanna 
II.,  sister  of  Ladislas,  though  far  from  being  an  attractive 
character,  had  no  lack  of  suitors.  The  Count  of  La 
Marche  was  eventually  accepted,  in  the  hope  of  conciliat- 
ing France ;  but  the  marriage  was  a  failure  from  every 
point  of  view,  and  after  long  quarrels,  ending  in  her  hus- 
band's flight,  Joanna  reigned  alone.     The  third  Louis  of  ^j-^^™?*'^ 

°  ...  of  Louis 

Anjou   now    came  forward  with  his  claims,    and   wasni.of 
privately  egged  on  by  Pope  Martin  V.     He  soon  found,  1420 
however,  that  more  than  the  Queen  were  against  him. 
Joanna  had  no  children  and,  indignant  at  Louis  being 
forced  upon  her  as  her  successor,  determined  to  bring  a 
new  actor  on  the  scene,  in  the  person  of  Alfonso  V.,  King  Joanna 
of  Aragon  and  Sicily.     She  adopted  him  as  her  heir,  and  Alfonso  of 
he  was   only   too  eager  to  acquiesce  in  a  plan  which    ™^°'^ 
would  once  more  unite  the  two  Sicihes.     Thus  a  long 
rivalry  began  between  Angevin  and  Aragonese. 

Joanna  soon  repented  of  her  choice,  as  Alfonso  was 
in  every  way  too  masterful.     She  revoked  her  adoption,  and  after- 

.  .  .  .  .  wards 

and  makmg  Louis  of  Anjou  Duke  of  Calabria,  proclaimed  Louis  of 
him  as  her  heir.     He  was  a  quiet  and  easy-going  prince,    "^°" 
who  went  to  Calabria  as  he  was  ordered,  and  died  there 
just  before  his  adopted  mother.     Joanna  had  still  time  Adoption 
for   another   adoption,   and   chose   last  of   all  Rene  of  Bon,  1434 
Provence,  a  younger  brother  of  Louis,  well  known  to  us 
as  father  of  Margaret  of  Anjou,  wife  of  our  own  Henry 
VI.     A  year  later  the  Queen  herself  departed  this  life 


186  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

Death  of    and  left  her  two  adopted  sons  to  dispute  the  succession. 
1435       ■'  Alfonso  was  captured  in  the  struggle,  and  carried  off  as 
prisoner  to  Milan ;  but  here  his  attractive  personality 
won  over  the  Duke  Filippo  Visconti,  who  set  him  free 
and  gave  him  help  to  continue  the  war ;  poor  help  as 
we  now  know,  since  he  was  at  the  moment  secretly  as- 
sisting the  other  side,  for  it  suited  him  well  to  have  his 
neighbours  flying  at  each  other's  throats,  and  providing 
occupation   for    the    dangerous    condottieri.     The    long 
struggle   ended   at   last   in   the   establishment   on   the 
Alfonso  be-  thronc  of  Alfonso,  a  man  of  considerable  ability  as  well 
of  Naples"^  ^s  of  a  gcucrosity  so  universal  as  to  win  him  the  title  of 
1435-58      u  Magnanimous,"  and  for  a  short  time  Naples  and  Sicily 
were  united  under  the  same  ruler.    Rene  could  never  be 
King,  but  Eugenius  IV.  gave  him  a  grand  coronation, 
which  possibly  did  something  to  atone  for  his  disappoint- 
ment.    The  two  Sicilies  were  still  being  happily  and 
quietly  governed  by  Alfonso  in  1453. 
History  of       One  result  of  the  expedition  made  to  Italy  by  the 
'  *°        Emperor  Henry  VII.  is  not  likely  to  be  forgotten.     In 
1312  he  appointed  Matteo  Visconti  Imperial  Vicar  in 
the  city  of  Milan,  and  so  established  the  ascendency  of 
that  dynasty   whose  name  was  to  become    the   most 
Growth  of  feared  and  the  most  hated  in  Northern  Italy.     Under 
under  the   the  descendants  of  Matteo,  Milanese  rule  began  to  grow 
Visconti     apace.     In    1339    Bergamo,   Brescia,    Cremona,    Lodi, 
Piacenza,  Vercelli  and  Novara  owned  her  sway ;  Parma, 
Tortona,  Alessandria  and  Asti  were  added  a  few  years 
later,  and  Giovanni  Visconti,  the  warlike  Archbishop  of 
Milan,  overstepped  the  borders  of  Lombardy,  by  forcing 
the  cession  of  Bologna  in  1350,  and  the  submission  of 
Genoa  in  1353.    Milan  had  become  the  greatest  power  in 
Lombardy,  had  alarmed  Florence  and  the  other  Tuscan 


ITALY,  1382-1453 


187 


cities,  and  had  excited   the  hostility  of    the   Pope  by 
attacks  on  the  States  of  the  Church. 

In  1354  the  death  of  the  Archbishop  left  these  ex- 
tensive dominions  to  be  divided  between  three  of  his 
nephews,  Matteo,  Bernabo  and  Galeazzo  Visconti. 
Matteo,  however,  was  soon  got  out  of  the  way  by  his 


N.ITALY   IN  XIV  CENTURY  showing   possessions  of  Can  GaleazzoViscontr 


brothers,  who  were  utterly  unscrupulous ;  and  his  death  Rule  of 
was  greeted  with  pleasure  by  the  Milanese,  who  had  and  Gaie- 
already  learned  enough  of  his  vicious  character.     They  ^g^"'  ^ 
had  gained  little :  in  Bernabo  and  Galeazzo  all  the  worst 
features  of  the  Visconti  were  displayed.     The  history 
of  this  family  is  almost   unbelievable;   it    is   hard'^to 
realise  that  such  monsters  can  ever  have  existed  or  have 


188  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

been  allowed  to  live.  One  after  another  showed  the 
same  extraordinary  combination  of  crafty  ability,  un- 
flinching determination,  a  cold-blooded  cruelty  which 
defies  description,  coupled  with  the  most  despicable 
personal  cowardice.  It  was  not  till  a  Httle  later  in  Gian 
Galeazzo  that  we  find  these  characteristics  in  their 
most  exaggerated  form,  but  Bernabo  and  Galeazzo 
were  unmistakable  Visconti.  It  was  they  who  issued 
the  appalling  decree  which  sentenced  criminals  to  forty 
days'  torture  before  their  execution  ;  it  was  Bernabo  who 
flung  a  peasant  to  his  hounds  for  having  killed  a  hare, 
and  who  forced  a  Papal  messenger  to  eat  in  his  presence 
the  parchment,  cord  and  leaden  seal  of  the  bull  of  ex- 
communication which  he  had  brought ;  it  was  Bernabo 
again  who  fell  into  such  abject  terror  when  the  plague 
was  in  his  capital,  that  he  hid  in  a  house  in  the  forest, 
saw  no  one,  and  surrounded  it  with  a  barricade  to  pass 
which  entailed  instant  death. 
Gian  Gale-  This  tyrannous  coward  soon  reaped  the  reward  of 
1402  his  crimes.     In  1378  his  brother  died,  leaving  his  share 

of  Milanese  territory  to  a  son,  Gian  Galeazzo,  the  ablest 
and  the  wickedest  of  this  able  and  wicked  stock.  The 
new  ruler  did  not  strike  at  once ;  on  the  contrary,  he 
Removal  of  feigned  a  humility  and  a  piety  which  completely  misled 
1385^^°'  his  uncle,  and  then  invited  him  to  meet  him  on  his 
way  to  a  place  of  pilgrimage.  Bernabo  came  all  un- 
suspecting, only  to  be  seized,  flung  into  prison  despite 
his  entreaties  and  promptly  poisoned.  Gian  Galeazzo, 
now  the  head  of  an  undivided  dominion,  threw  off  the 
mask,  boldly  grasped  at  power,  and  entered  on  a  career 
which  brought  terror  to  all  other  Italian  rulers,  estab- 
lished the  supremacy  of  Milan,  and  reduced  his  own 
subjects  to  a   dull  despair,  which  robbed   them  of  all 


ITALY,  1382-1453  189 

power  to  resist  the  oppression,  cruelty  and  terror  under 
which  they  groaned. 

The   ambition   of   the  new  tyrant   was   to  found  a  Policy  of 
Kingdom  of  Northern  Italy,  and  he  all  but  achieved  azzo 
his  aim.     Many  territories  had  been  recently  lost,  and 
these  he  set  to  work  to  win  back  with  additions.     The 
conquest  of  Verona  and  the  destruction  of  the  family 
of  Delia  Scala  opened  the  way  both  to  Padua  and  Venice. 
Fearing  for  themselves,  and  mindful  of  their  old  quarrel 
with  the  house  of  Carrara  in  Padua,  the  Venetians  helped 
Milan  for  the  time,  and  Padua  was  forced  to  surrender. 
Supreme  in  Lombardy,  Gian  Galeazzo  now  threatened 
Tuscany,  took  possession  of  Pisa,  Sienna  and  Perugia, 
and   in   1395  forced  Wenzel  King  of  the  Romans  to 
confer  Milan  and  his  other  possessions  upon  him  as  an  Milan 
hereditary  Duchy.     Never   was  the  rise  of  any  family  ^^^i^y*^ 
so  rapid  and  apparently  so  secure  as  that  of  the  Vis-  ^^^^ 
conti :  wealth  and  power  cover  a  multitude  of  sins,  and 
foreign   Courts    were   not   ashamed   to  form  marriage  visconti 
aUiances    with    this   race   of  blood-stained  tyrants.     A!jmances 
daughter  of  Bernabo  had  been  married  to  Leopold  of 
Habsburg,  the  Leopold  who  fell  later  on  the  field  of 
Sempach ;   a    sister  of  Gian  Galeazzo  to  the  English 
prince,  Lionel  Duke  of  Clarence,  and  the  Duke  himself 
to   Isabella  of  France,  a  country  which  he  again  tried 
to  conciliate  later  by  wedding  his  own  daughter  Valen- 
tine to  Louis  of  Orleans,  the  Duke  who  was  afterwards 
murdered.     The    wedding-feast    which   was    given    in 
honour  of  the  Duke  of  Clarence  has  been  recorded,  and 
remains  as  an  illustration  of  the  enormous  wealth  of 
the  Visconti,  and  of  the  lavish  profusion  of  those  days. 
Eighteen  courses  appeared  at  this  magnificent  banquet. 
Each  course  was  heralded  by  costly  presents   to  the 


190  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

wedded  pair,  sporting  dogs  of  all  kinds  with  costly  collars, 
war-horses  royally  caparisoned,  armour  adorned  with 
silver  and  gold,  and  many  ornaments  and  precious  stones. 
Even  the  food  was  gilded,  and  the  table  groaned  be- 
neath the  weight  of  gilded  stags,  hares,  pies,  and  game 
of  every  imaginable  variety,  to  say  nothing  of  wine,  fruit 
and  sweetmeats.  No  European  monarch  could  possibly 
have  spent  more,  even  had  he  wished,  and  one  doubts 
if  any  one  could  have  eaten  so  much  ! 
Francesco  Gian  Galeazzo  suffered  one  reverse  to  his  arms, 
yomfger  ^^  the  history  of  which  is  full  of  interest.  After  Milan 
had  annexed  Padua  in  1388,  Francesco  Carrara  the 
younger,  who  had  been  imprisoned  at  Asti,  escaped  with 
his  wife,  and  determined  to  leave  no  stone  unturned  for 
the  recovery  of  his  possessions.  They  crossed  the  Mont 
Cenis  in  snow  and  first  sought  help  in  vain  at  Avignon  ; 
then  by  ship  they  returned  to  Italy,  but  his  young  wife, 
Taddea,  ill  at  the  time,  suffered  such  agonies  from  sea- 
sickness that  they  endeavoured  again  to  advance  by 
land.  Through  hostile  territories  they  walked  in  hourly 
fear  of  capture,  with  scarcely  any  food,  sleeping  where 
they  dared  in  the  woods,  in  barns,  or  in  ruined  churches, 
Taddea  supported  by  her  husband  and  scarcely  able  to 
put  one  foot  before  the  other.  They  had  many  disap- 
pointments. At  Pisa  they  hoped  for  shelter,  but  the 
Visconti's  hand  was  there  also,  and  they  could  not  stay, 
though  Francesco  did  get  a  horse  for  his  wife  and  re- 
freshments for  the  journey.  Florence  received  them, 
but  dared  not  give  open  help,  and  the  brave  young 
Carrara  set  out  once  more  to  his  kinsman  the  Duke  of 
Bavaria,  a  journey  filled  with  sufferings  and  adventures. 
At  last,  with  a  handful  of  men  and  the  promise  of  more 
to  foUow,  he  returned  to  Italy  and  advanced  on  Padua, 


ITALY,  1382-1453  191 

where  the  Milanese  had  a  strong  garrison.  His  numbers 
were  too  few  to  attack  the  town,  but  Francesco  knew 
that  the  river  was  passable  and  the  water  low.  With  a 
few  companions  he  crept  up  the  river  bed,  scaled  the 
wall  and  entered  the  town,  whilst  the  attention  of  the 
defenders  was  distracted  by  shouts  of  peasants  all 
round,  who  were  devoted  to  Francesco,  and  whom  he 
had  instructed  to  do  this  in  order  to  make  the  garri- 
son believe  that  they  were  attacked  by  a  large  force. 
The  stratagem  was  successful,  and  the  town  was  cap- 
tured by  the  heroic   little    band;     more   troops    from  Recovery 

.  .  of  PtlUXlil 

Bavaria  following  enabled  Francesco  to  establish  him- from 
self   firmly   in  Padua,  and  to  force  Gian  Galeazzo    to  ^^'^"' ^^'^^^ 
agree  to  terms. 

Despite   the  loss  of  Padua,  the  Duke  of  Milan  had  War  be- 

„  „  ,    tweeu  Flor- 

made  extraordinary  progress,  and  when  the  ntteenth  ence  and 
century  began,  Florence  was  engaged  in  a  struggle  with 
this  formidable  rival,  which  threatened  her  very  exis- 
tence, since  she  was  more  and  more  isolated  and  cut  off 
from  all  trade  communications.  Despair  and  exhaustion 
were  weakening  Florentine  resistance,  when  she  was 
saved  from  destruction  by  the  sudden  death  of  her  enemy  Death  of 

1-1  1      J.  J.1       i.-  CTiaii  Gale- 

f rom  plague.  A  comet  which  appeared  at  the  time,  was  ^zzo,  1402 
regarded  by  the  vainglorious  Duke  as  the  signal  of  his 
end.  "I  thank  God,"  he  said,  "  that  He  has  given  in 
the  heavens  a  sign  of  my  summons,  that  it  may  be  known 
to  all  men."  The  death  of  Gian  Galeazzo  threw  the 
Duchy  into  anarchy  and  ended  his  schemes  for  the 
Kingdom  of  Northern  Italy :  none  of  his  successors  were 
equal  to  such  a  task. 

The  vast  dominions,  collected  with  so  much  labour,  Gian  Maria 
were  now  divided  between  two  young  sons  of  the  dead  mS^ '^^^ 
Duke,  while  his  widow  Catherine  was  Regent,  but  she  1402-12 


192  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

speedily   alienated    everyone   by   the   aimless   cruelties 
which  she  thought  would  do  instead  of  strong  rule,  and 
the  condottieri,  more  numerous  and  powerful  than  ever 
before,  took  advantage  of  the  general  disorder  and  began 
to  seize  towns  and  lands  for  their  own  use.   Filippo  Maria, 
the  younger  son,  eventually  established  his  supremacy, 
the  elder,  Gian  Maria,  whose  unreasoning  atrocities  pro- 
Murder  of  claimed  him  practically  a  madman,  having  been  mur- 
Maria,       dered  by  the  Milanese  nobles.    Filippo  married  a  woman 
^'^^'^  twenty  years  his  senior,  the  widow  of  Facino  Cane,  a 

general  who  had  annexed  certain  important  towns, 
which  were  thus  regained  ;  he  discovered  the  merits  of 
Carmagnola,  a  simple  soldier,  and  made  him  his  com- 
mander in  chief ;  he  regained  Milan  which  had  been 
taken  when  his  brother  was  murdered,  and  restored  the 
shattered  Duchy. 
Filippo  Filippo  Maria  Visconti,  though  not  without  ability, 

i4i2-'4'7  was  a  feeble  copy  of  his  father.  He  was  far  weaker, 
always  suspicious  and  afraid  of  decided  measures.  Gian 
Galeazzo  had  been  a  coward,  he  shunned  arms,  and 
shrieked  at  a  thunder-storm,  but  no  personal  fear 
seemed  to  affect  his  purposes  or  awaken  his  conscience ; 
Filippo  was  more  of  a  coward  all  round.  He  dared  not 
see  his  soldiers,  he  shrank  from  the  very  mention  of  death, 
he  was  always  expecting  treachery,  and  would  receive 
no  visitors.  Part  of  his  withdrawal  from  sight  may 
have  been  due  to  his  extreme  ugliness,  which  made  him 
dislike  publicity.  Yet  with  all  his  timidity  he  was  still 
a  Visconti  in  cruelty.  He  did  not  hesitate  to  get  rid  of 
his  blameless  wife,  as  soon  as  every  advantage  had  been 
gained  from  the  match,  and  his  people  were  still 
tortured  and  oppressed. 

The  chief  event  of  the  fifteenth  century   in  North 


ITALY,  1382-1453  193 

Italy  was  the  fierce  struggle  which  raged  between  Milan 
and  Venice. 

Venice  all  this  while  had  not  been  idle.      After  the  Advance  of 

V^GIliC6  Oil 

War  of  Chioggia  had  practically  established  her  superi-  the  maiu- 
ority  over  Genoa,  she  had  been  turning  her  attention  ^'^'^'^ 
more  and  more  to  extension  on  the  mainland.  The  first 
foe  with  whom  she  was  thus  brought  into  conflict  was 
the  Lord  of  Padua,  and  on  this  account  she  had  actually 
joined  with  Gian  Galeazzo  in  his  attack  on  the  Carraresi, 
and  was  given  Treviso  as  her  share  of  the  spoils.  The 
death  of  Gian  Galeazzo  brought  Venice  and  the  restored 
State  of  Padua  once  more  into  rivalry,  since  each  coveted 
the  same  portions  of  the  dead  man's  territory.  In  this 
quarrel  ended  the  life  of  the  gallant  Francesco  Carrara, 
whose  early  career  we  have  traced.  Carried  a  captive  to 
Venice,  he  was  murdered  in  prison,  defending  himself 
to  the  last.  The  fall  of  this  family  left  the  Venetian 
Kepublic  master  of  Padua,  Vicenza,  Verona  and  the 
surrounding  districts,  and  a  most  important  power  in 
Northern  Italy. 

New  dangers  followed  the  new  acquisitions  made  by 
Venice.     The  purchase  of  Dalmatia  involved  her  in  war  War  with 

...  Hungary 

with  Hungary ;  the  Paduan  territories  excited  the 
jealousy  of  Milan.  For  some  time  a  war  party  and  a 
peace  party  had  been  disputing  in  Venice,  where  in 
1423  the  matter  was  brought  to  a  head  by  an  appeal 
from  Florence  for  help  against  the  Duke  of  Milan,  and 
a  threat,  that  failing  help  she  would  throw  herself  on  to 
his  side  and   make  him  King  of   Italy.     At  last  after  Venice 

°  •'  .     .      joins  Flor- 

much  hesitation,  the  new  Doge,  Francesco  Foscari,  m-  ence 
duced   the  Eepublic   to  declare  war ;   an    alliance  was  MHau, 
formed   with   Florence,  and    Carmagnola,   the   famous  ^^'^^ 
condottiere,  alienated  by  his  former  master,  Filippo  of 
13 


194  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

Milan,  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  Venetian  forces. 
The  war  between  Venice  and  Milan  was  one  between 
great  condottieri.    Opposed  to  Cariuagnola  were  Piccinino 
and  Malatesta,  and  most  frequently  Sforza,  but  he  had 
his  own  game  to  play  and  changed  sides  when  it  seemed 
best  for  the  success  of  his  policy. 
The  Sforza      Francesco  Sforza  was  one  of  the  most  striking  figures 
of  his  day.     His  father,  the  first  to  take  up  the  trade  of 
war  and  found  the  dynasty,  was  a  peasant  of  Cotilogna, 
a  man  of  enormous  size  and  strength.     In  1380  he  was 
invited  by  some  passing  soldiers,  struck  by  his  appear- 
ance, to  join  their  ranks.     He  flung  his  pickaxe  into  an 
oak-tree  ;  if  it  fell  he  would  go  on  working,  if  it  stayed  he 
would  join  the  troop.     No  pick  returned,  he  took  to  the 
soldiers  trade,  and  was  given  the  nickname  of  Sforza  or 
the  Violent.    He  became  a  warrior  of  great  renown,  and 
we  have  already  heard  of  him  fighting  in  Naples,  in  the 
Papal  States  and  elsewhere,  besides  acquiring  territorial 
possessions  of  his  own.     His  chief  source  of  strength 
lay  in  his  army,  and  the  devotion  which  his  followers 
always  felt  for  him.     The  manner  of  his  death  helps  to 
explain  his  influence  over  them.    He  lost  his  life  fording 
a  swift  river,  into  which  he  had  returned  to  encourage 
his  men,  after  having  already  crossed  in  safety  himself. 
Seeing  a  young  page  overpowered  by  the  current  he 
stooped  to  save  him,  fell  from  his  horse,  and  utterly  un- 
able to  swim  in  his  heavy  armour,  was  swept  down  by 
the  flood  before  any  could  reach  him.     His  son  Fran- 
cesco took  command  in  his  place,  and  became  his  equal 
in  valour  and  warlike  fame.     Now  this  younger  Sforza 
was  aiming  at  a  Principahty  of  his  own ;  and  the  son 
of  a  simple  peasant  was  the  recognised  suitor  for  the 


ITALY,  1382-1453 


195 


hand  of  Bianca,  an  illegitimate  daughter  of  Filippo  of 
Milan  himself. 

At  the  opening  of  the  war  all  went  well  for  Venice,  Greatest 
and  Brescia  and  Bergamo  were  added  to  her  territories  ;  Venetian 
but  little  by  little  the  conduct  of  Carmagnola  gave  rise 
to  the  suspicion  that  he  was  not  doing  his  best,  that  he 
was  either  secretly  favouring  the  enemy,  or  that  at  least 
he  was  prolonging  the  war  by  his  inactivity  as  useful 


CatUr8%>. 


The  Government  at  last  could  Execution 


for  his  own  interests 

stand  it  no  longer 

nominally  for  a  consultation,  and  after  being  splendidly 

entertained    was   suddenly  arrested,  and   sentenced   to 

death  by  a  special  court.     Other  generals  were  soon 

found    to  take  his  place,  and  with  varying  success  the 

war  dragged  on,  until    the  death  of  Filippo  Maria  in  Death  of 

1447  made  a  sudden  change  in  the  whole  situation,  for  Maria  vis- 

with  him  ended  the  male  line  of  the  Visconti.  '^°'^^^'  ^**^ 


the  general  was  invited  to  Venice  "oia^^^^sf" 


196  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

Disputed        The   question    now   arose,    how    should    Milan    be 

succession 

ill  Milan  govemed  ?  The  Milanese  themselves  proclaimed  a  Ke- 
public,  but  there  were  plenty  of  claimants  for  the  Duchy. 
Sforza  was  married  to  Filippo's  daughter,  and  had  long 
been  planning  to  secure  his  inheritance ;  Venice  would 
gladly  have  seized  the  opportunity  of  advancing  at  her 
rival's  expense ;  Charles  of  Orleans  asserted  his  rights 

Francesco   as  SOU   of  Valentine   Visconti    and  grandson   of  Gian 

Sforza 

Duke  of     Galeazzo.    Eventually  Sforza,  having  gained  the  support 
i45o"'        of  Cosimo  de'  Medici  who  preferred  to  see  him  rather 
than  Venice  master  of  Milan,  solved  the  difficulty  by  be- 
sieging the  town,  and  the  Milanese,  divided  between  fear 
of  him  and  hatred  of  Venice,  which  might  have  helped 
them,  surrendered  to  the  formidable  soldier,  and  recog- 
nised him  as  their  Duke.    The  Venetians  had  lost  a  great 
opportunity  and  they  could  do  nothing  against  the  new 
ruler  by  force  of  arms.     In  1454  the  long  struggle  was 
Peace  of     ended  by  the  Peace  of  Lodi,  which  deprived  Venice 
°'^^'     "^    of  her  latest  conquests  and   gave  her  the  frontier  of 
1428. 
Domestic        A  few  words  must  be  said  concerning  the  domestic 
v'euke  °    history  of  the  Venetian  Republic  during  this  period.    Its 
chief  feature  was  the  decline  of  any  real  authority  in 
the  hands  of  the  Doge  and  the  growing  supremacy  of 
the  Council  of  Ten.     For    some  time  past  the  Ducal 
office  had  been  becoming   more  and  more  an  empty 
honour,  and  the  theory  that  he  was  the  delegate  of  the 
people  little  but  a  picturesque  pretence.     Originally  the 
people  had  been  really  consulted    in  the  election,  and 
though  this  had  turned  into   a  formal  sanction,  it  was 
not  till  1414  that  the  old  words  were  omitted  "  This  is 
your  Doge,  an  it  please  you,"  and  the  new  ruler  was  pre- 
sented to   his  subjects   with    the   bald  announcement, 


I TA  LY  after  the  Peace  of  Lodi  1454 


198  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

"  Your  Doge  ".     The  history  of  Francesco  Foscari,  the 

first  Doge  to  be  proclaimed  in  this  manner,  illustrates 

Francesco   clearly  the  real  character  of  the  office  and  its  complete 

Fosc&ri  * 

Doge  of  lack  of  authority.  His  son  Jacopo,  suspected  of  taking 
bribes  and  bestowing  offices,  was  tortured  and  banished 
by  the  Ten.  Recalled  once,  he  was  again  tried,  again 
tortured  and  again  banished,  his  father  refusing  to  inter- 
fere in  his  favour  when  the  State  decreed  his  punish- 
ment. Foscari,  worn  out  and  broken  by  grief,  began  to 
take  less  active  share  in  public  life,  whereupon  the  all- 
powerful  Ten  demanded  his  resignation.  In  vain  the 
Deposition  Doge  pointed  out  that  such  an  order  could  only  proceed 
by  the  from  the  Great  Council,  the  Ten  remained  immovable, 
Ten"i457^  and  Foscari  left  the  palace  submissive  to  the  will  of  the 
real  rulers  of  the  city.  So  ends  our  period  for  Milan 
and  Venice.  In  the  former,  Visconti  tyranny  has  merely 
given  place  to  the  despotism  of  the  Sforzas.  The  latter 
has  apparently  come  victorious  out  of  the  war,  with 
increase  of  territory  and  plenty  of  riches  and  splendour 
for  the  moment,  but  there  are  rocks  ahead.  Dangers 
are  threatening  from  Turks  on  the  East,  from  Italian 
rivals  in  the  West,  and  from  loss  of  her  far  famed  com- 
merce and  wealth,  which  dwindled  after  the  discovery 
of  a  passage  round  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  opened  a 
new  trade  route  for  the  vessels  of  Europe. 
History  of  We  havc  seen  in  an  earlier  chapter  that  the  govern- 
Fiorence  j^gj^^  of  jTiorence  at  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century 
was  very  democratic,  largely,  that  is,  in  the  hands  of  the 
people.  As  time  went  on  the  upper  classes  became 
more  and  more  dissatisfied  at  the  limitations  on  their 
power,  and  the  wealthy  burghers  determined  to  assert 
their  authority.  In  137^  a  rising  of  the  Cioinjn,  as  the 
lowest  classes  of  all  were  called,  gave  opportunity  for 


ITALY,  1382-1453  199 

a  reaction  in  the  opposite  direction,  and  little  by  little 
the  government  fell  into  the  hands  of  an  oligarchy ;  a  victory  of 
small  nmiiber  of  leading  citizens  gained  possession  of  archy  " 
all  the  chief  offices,  and  by  skilful  management  of  the 
Scrutinies  were  able  to  keep  themselves  in  pov^er,  until 
Florence  was  far  from  possessing  a  democratic  Govern- 
ment.    The  rule  of  this  oligarchy  was  at  first  most  suc- 
cessful.    Florence  held  her  own  against  Milan,  increased 
her  commerce,  and  extended  her  territories ;  the   con- 
quest of   Pisa  in  especial  gave   her   access  to  the  sea, 
and  raised  hopes  of  naval  enterprises.     Then  followed 
a  period  of  discontent  and  failure.     The  people  excluded 
from  power  began  to  murmur,  and  especially  the  lower 
middle  classes,  who  were  growing  in  wealth  and   felt 
bitterly   their   exclusion    from   office.     The   weight   of 
taxation  also,  necessary  for  carrying  on  the  government, 
was  a  constant  source  of  complaint ;  but  above  all  the 
oligarchy  itself   began   to  split  up   into  hostile   family 
groups,  jealous  of  each  other's  power,  and  intriguing  for  Rivalry  be- 
their  own  supremacy.     Of  these   the   most  important  bizzi  and 
were  the  Albizzi  and  the  Medici.     Kinaldo  degli  Albizzi  ^^'^^"^ 
headed   the    narrow    oHgarchy,    which   controlled    the 
government.     The  Medici,  rich   bankers    and    money 
changers,    came   to  be   allied    with  the  lower   classes, 
whose   favour  they  won   partly   by  generous  expendi- 
ture of  their  vast  wealth.      Giovanni   de'  Medici  was 
looked  up  to  as  popular  champion  against  the  party  in 
power,  and  he  advocated  fairer  and  better  distributed 
taxation,    but    no    active   steps   against   the   ohgarchy 
were  taken  during  his   hfetime.     On   his   deathbed  he 
gave  much  good  advice  to   his   son   Cosimo,    his  suc- 
cessor in  wealth,  and  more  than  his  successor  in  power. 
"Be  compassionate  to  the  poor  and  assist  them  with 


200  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

your  alms  ;  to  the  rich  be  gracious  and  obHging,  especi- 
ally if  in  honest  adversity.  .  .  .  Let  your  counsel 
be  friendly  not  dictatorial,  and  be  not  rendered 
proud  and  arrogant  by  public  honour  or  popular 
applause." 
War  with  In  1433  an  unsuccessful  war  for  the  conquest  of 
Lucca  rendered  still  more  unpopular  the  party  in  power, 
and  Erinaldo  degli  Albizzi,  feeling  his  authority  insecure 
and  dreading  Medicean  influence,  secured  the  arrest 
and  banishment  of  Cosimo  and  his  brother  Lorenzo, 
and  the  exclusion  of  the  whole  family  from  public  ofiQce. 
The  tide  soon  turned,  however,  Einaldo  was  unpopular, 
and  in  the  following  year  he  in  his  turn  was  banished, 
Cosimo  de'  and  Cosimo  recalled  with  the  greatest  honour  and  signs 
eaiied\o^  of  rcjoicing.  This  was  a  great  event  in  Florentine 
Florence,  j^igtory,  for  it  marks  the  foundation  of  Medicean  as- 
cendency. Cosimo  slowly  but  surely  made  himself  the 
chief  authority  in  the  city,  although  he  never  posed  as 
official  ruler,  nor  did  he  alarm  the  citi:jens  by  outward 
pomp  and  ceremony.  He  avoided  offending  the  lower 
people,  and  endeavoured  as  far  as  possible  to  level  class 
distinctions  and  to  favour  no  single  faction  in  the  State. 
His  great  ability  enabled  him  to  establish  a  despotism, 
which  was  all  the  stronger  for  being  disguised,  and  from 
this  time  the  foreign  and  domestic  policy  of  Florence 
was  really  in  his  hands. 
Home  The  rule  of  Cosimo  at  home  was  very  different  from 

Cosimo°  that  of  other  Italian  tyrants,  such  as  the  Visconti  in 
Milan,  for  example.  He  aimed  at  complete  power  for 
himself  and  his  dynasty  ;  but  he  achieved  this  by  influ- 
ence rather  than  open  rule,  by  intrigue  rather  than  by 
violence  and  by  money  not  by  the  dagger.    His  immense 


ITALY,  1382-1453  201 

wealth  was  a  great  weapon  in  his  hands  ;  and  if  he  wished 
to  punish  an  enemy  he  did  so  by  ruining  him  with 
taxes,  instead  of  by  arrest,  torture,  or  death.  His  des- 
potism, on  the  whole,  was  based  upon  popular  support. 
All  this  does  not  imply  that  Cosimo  was  unselfish  and 
scrupulous.  Nothing  was  allowed  to  stand  in  his  way  ; 
as  he  said  himself,  "  States  are  not  to  be  preserved 
by  Paternosters";  but  he  was  averse  to  violence  and 
would  never  have  desired  unnecessary  cruelties.  Com- 
mines  writing  after  his  death  says,  "  his  authority  was 
soft  and  amiable  and  such  as  is  necessary  for  a  free 
town  ". 

In  foreign  affairs  Cosimo  aimed  at  maintaining  a  Foreign 
balance  of  power,  at  not,  that  is,  allowing  any  Italian  cosfmo" 
State  to  advance  to  such  an  extent  as  to  threaten  the 
welfare  of  his  own.  Thus  he  was  bound  at  first  to  adopt 
a  policy  of  hostility  towards  Milan  and  the  ambitions  of 
the  Visconti,  and  this  led  to  an  alliance  with  Venice, 
although  there  was  little  love  lost  between  Florentines 
and  Venetians.  Again  when  Filippo  Maria  took  up  the 
cause  of  Alfonso  in  Naples,  Florence  threw  her  weight 
on  to  the  side  of  Eene.  In  1447  when  the  Duke  of 
Milan  died,  Cosimo  favoured  the  claims  of  Sforza,  and 
wished  to  break  off  the  Venetian  alliance  as  no  longer 
necessary :  but  this  he  was  unable  to  do  openly,  owing 
to  the  feeling  of  the  people,  until  Sforza's  success  in  1450, 
when  Florence  joined  with  Milan  against  Venice  and 
Naples.  Although  this  policy,  thus  shortly  stated,  may 
seem  complicated  and  ineffective,  the  result  in  reality 
was  to  make  Florence  a  very  great  power  in  Italy,  the 
ally  of  France,  and  a  mediator  in  all  questions  of  diffi- 
culty in  the  Peninsula. 


202  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

At  the  close  of  our  epoch  Cosimo  de'  Medici  had  still 
many  years  of  life  and  power  before  him,  and  his  history 
belongs  largely  to  a  later  period. 

ADDITIONAL  BOOKS 
Sismondi :  Italian  Bepuhlics. 

AletheaWiel:  Venice  ("Story  of  the  Natious"),  and  Florence, 
("Medigeval  Towns  Series"). 


T 


CHAPTEE   X 

HISTORY  OF  PRANCE,  1880-1453 

HE  period  which  followed  the  reign  of  Charles  the  ^'!^''',®|„ 
Wise  was  one  of  great  disaster  for  France.  The  1422 
new  King  Charles  VI.  was  only  eleven  years  old  on  his 
father's  death,  and  though  a  boy  of  considerable  spirit 
and  promise,  his  early  introduction  to  the  troubles,  ex- 
citements and  dissipations  of  royalty  were  too  much  for 
a  brain  naturally  feeble. 

His  reign  began  with  a  struggle  for  power  amongst  The 

Pviiicfls  of 

his  uncles.  Charles  V.  had  three  brothers.  The  Duke  the  Fieur 
of  Anjou  the  eldest  was  greedy  and  ambitious,  he  stole  ^®  ^^^ 
the  crown  jewels  and  declared  himself  Eegent.  The 
Duke  of  Berry  was  bought  off  by  being  given  the  rule  in 
Languedoc,  where  his  cruelties  and  oppressions  en- 
couraged constant  disquiet  which  kept  him  occupied. 
Philip  the  Bold,  the  boy  who  alone  had  stood  by  his 
father  at  Poitiers,  had  been  rewarded  with  the  Duchy  of 
Burgundy,  which  had  fallen  to  the  Crown  in  1361,  and 
was  one  of  the  richest  princes  in  Europe.  He  had 
married  Margaret  of  Flanders,  widow  of  the  last  Duke 
of  Burgundy  of  the  old  house,  and  only  child  of  Count 
Louis  le  Male,  who  died  in  1382,  leaving  all  his  great 
territories  in  the  hands  of  his  son-in-law  ;  an  all-important 
fact,  for  it  was  largely  on  account  of  Flanders  that 
Burgundy  became  later  more  attached  to  England  than 

to  France. 

203 


204  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

A  fourth  claimant  for  power  was  found  in  the  Duke 

of  Bourbon,  brother  of  the  late  King's  wife,  and  the 

selfish  disputes  between  these  "  Princes  of  the  Fleur  de 

Lys"  were  not  conducive  to  the  welfare  of  the  country. 

The  close  of  the  fourteenth  century  was  a  period  of 

The Maiiio- popular  risings  in  many  countries;  it  was  not  only  in 

*'°^  England  that  Wat  Tyler's  Rebellion  showed  the  strength 

of  the  people  growing  in  opposition  to  feudalism.     In 

France  there  were  disturbances  in  Paris  at  the  opening  of 

the  new  reign,  chiefly  against  the  heavy  taxation  of  the 

Princes  ;  the  rioters  were  called  Maillotins  or  Hammerers, 

from  the  weapon  they  most   frequently  carried.     The 

Government,  for  the  time,  had  to  yield  to  popular  wishes. 

The  Duke  of  Anjou  was  anxious  for  peace,  as  his  whole 

attention  was  turned  to  Naples,  on  which  he  had  claims, 

and  in  1382  his  departure  to  fight  for  his  rights  against 

Charles  of  Durazzo  left  the  chief  authority  in  the  hands 

of  Philip  of  Burgundy. 

French  in-       Urged  by  his  Uncle  Philip,  the  young  King  went  off 

in  Flanders  with  a  large  army  to  assist  the  Count  of  Flanders,  once 

more   in  trouble   with  his    subjects.       The   Flemings, 

especially  those  of  Ghent  as  before,  had  risen  against 

their  unpopular  ruler,  and  were  headed  by  Philip  van 

Artevelde,  the  son  of  their  old  leader,  a  man  equally  bold 

and  determined.     The  rebels  captured  Bruges  where  the 

Count  had  a  romantic  escape,  being  concealed  in  the  bed 

of   a   poor  woman  whilst  her   house   was  searched  by 

his  enemies,  and  other  successes  also  emboldened  the 

burgesses  in  their  resistance.     Van  Artevelde,  however, 

was  not  a  trained  warrior  and  he  was  unable  to  maintain 

Battle  of    his  forccs  against  the  French  army  at  Rosbecque.    The 

Snov  ^'  s^o^T  ™^^  ^^^*  before  the  battle  he  had  a  vision  of  fire 

■•382.         in  the  sky,  and  heard  sounds  of  war  above  the  Flemish 


HISTORY  OF  FRANCE,  1380-1453  205 

camp  which  foretold   the   disaster  that  was  to  come. 
The  horrors  of  the  next  day  are  unrivalled  in  the  annals 
of  war,  and  it  was  a  ghastly  introduction  for  the  boy 
King  to  the  trade  of  arms.     The  one  idea  of  the  Flem- 
ings was  to  obtain  sheer  solid  strength  and  thus  force  a 
way  through  the  Hne  of  their  foes  ;  with  this  object  they 
linked  themselves   so   closely  together  that  no  enemy 
could  possibly  enter  their  ranks,  but  on  the  other  hand 
they  themselves  could  scarcely  strike  a  blow.     Attacked 
on  both  sides   at  once,  they   w^ere   pressed   more   and 
more  closely  together  till   half  their  number  died,  not 
through  the  weapons  of  the  French,  but  from  simple 
suffocation.     "  There  was  a  mountain  of  slain  Flemings 
both  long  and  high,  and  never  had  one  seen  so  great 
a  battle  and  so  many  dead  with  so  little  spilling  of  blood  ; 
this  was  because  so  many  were  stifled  in  the  press  and 
so  shed  no  blood."     Philip  van  Artevelde  himself  was 
among  the  slain,  and  Charles,  satisfied  with  this  vic- 
tory, returned  to  his  own  country,  where  his  entry  into 
Paris  was  marked  by  a  severe  repression  of  all  who  had 
taken  part  in  the  recent  rebehion.     The  leaders  of  the  Puuish- 
Maillotins  were  executed,  the  office   of  Provost  of  the  MaiUotins 
Merchants  abolished,  and  municipal  liberties  destroyed. 
The  first  great  event  in  the  government  came  when 
the  King  declared  that  he  was  of  age,  and  like  Kichard  Charles  de- 
II.  in  England  flung  himself  free  from  the  control  of  his  self  of  age, 
uncles,    and   began   to    govern   with   the   help    of  old^'^^^ 
Councillors  of  his  father  ;  Marmousets  the  jealous  nobles  Rule  of  the 
called  them,  angry  at  the  favour  shown  to  men  of  lower  ^g^^!"^°^' 
birth  than  themselves.     The  whole  condition  of  affairs  Madness  of 
was  changed,  however,  by  the  King's  attack  of  madness.    ^^^^^ 
A   combination   of  causes  helped  to  bring  this  about. 
One  of  Charles's  most  trusted  advisers  was  his  Constable, 


206  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

Olivier  de  Clisson.  A  personal  enemy  of  Clisson,  Pierre 
de  Craon,  backed  up  by  the  Duke  of  Brittany,  deter- 
mined on  his  removal.  One  night  when  returning  v^ith 
a  few  attendants  through  the  narrow  street  of  St. 
Catherine,  the  Constable  was  fallen  upon  by  Pierre 
himself  and  a  band  of  hired  ruffians,  who  dealt  him 
blows  which  felled  him  from  his  horse  and  as  they 
thought  killed  him.  He  was  saved  by  striking  in  his 
fall  the  half-open  door  of  a  baker's  shop,  where  work 
had  begun  early.  As  he  fell  across  the  threshold,  the 
assassins  dared  not  enter  the  house,  but  fled  in  hot  haste 
leaving  him  stretched  unconscious.  The  King,  to  whom 
news  of  the  crime  was  brought,  flew  half  dressed  to  the 
assistance  of  his  friend,  found  him  alive  and  learnt  the 
name  of  the  would-be  murderer.  Medical  aid  was 
speedily  procured  and  the  Constable  recovered ;  but 
Charles  having  failed  to  capture  De  Craon  determined 
on  the  punishment  of  the  Duke  of  Brittany,  whom  he 
rightly  guessed  to  have  been  at  the  bottom  of  the  affair. 
Ill  and  feverish  himself,  he  disregarded  the  prayers  of  his 
doctors,  and  during  the  hottest  summer  months  rode  to 
the  attack  of  his  unruly  vassal.  One  blazing  July  day, 
having  first  been  startled  in  a  wood  by  a  madman  who 
had  seized  his  bridle,  crying  "  Turn,  turn,  you  are  be- 
trayed," he  was  driven  out  of  his  senses  by  the  sudden 
clang  of  a  lance  which  a  sleepy  page  let  fall  on  the 
helmet  carried  by  another  of  his  attendants.  Thinking 
that  a  whole  army  was  upon  him,  the  King,  completely 
crazed,  drew  his  sword  and  fell  upon  his  own  fol- 
lowers, striking  down  right  and  left.  Finally  he  hotly 
pursued  his  own  brother  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  and  was 
only  captured  with  great  difficulty,  and  at  last  quieted, 
although  unable  to  recognise  any  one.      The  attackwas 


HISTORY  OP  FRANCE,  1380-1453 


207 


violent,  but  it  passed  at  last,  only  to  be  renewed  by  the 
wild  career  of  gaiety  with  which  his  friends  sought  to  dis- 
pel his  melancholy  humours.  An  awful  accident  gave 
the  final  blow  to  his  poor  wits.  Dressed  as  wild  men 
with  clothes  of  skins  soaked  in  pitch,  he  and  five  others 
were  dancing  at  a  marriage  feast,  when  the  Duke  of 
Orleans  with  a  torch,  set  fire  to  one  of  the  inflammable 
dresses.  The  King  was  saved  by  a  lady  with  whom  he 
was  talking  and  who  covered  him  with  her  robe,  but 
the  other  five  perished  in  the  flames  which  caught  them 
all  and  could  not  be  extinguished.  Charles  never  re- 
covered from  this  shock  ;  though  only  completely  mad 
at  periods  of  the  year  he  was  never  really  himself. 
Hence  a  struggle  ensued  for  power  in  the  Kingdom, 
which  threw  the  whole  working  of  the  government  out 
of  gear,  and  eventually  left  the  country  an  easy  prey  to 
the  renewed  invasion  of  the  English. 

VALOIS  AND  BURGUNDY 

Philip  YI.  of  France, 
1328-1350. 

I 
Jolin, 

1350-1364. 


Charles  v.,     Louis  I.     Isabella  =  Gian  Galeazzo     Philip  the 
1364-1380.     of  Anjou,  Visconti.         Bold,  Duke 

died  1385.  of  Burgundy, 

died  1404. 


Charles  VI.,  Louis  of  Or-  =  Valentine  Vis-       John  the 

1380-1422.  leans,                   conti.                Fearless, 

I  murdered  1407.                           murdered  1419. 

I  I 


Charles  VII., 
1422-1461. 


Katherine  =  Henry  V.  of 
England, 
1413-1422. 

Henry  VI., 
1422-1461. 


Philip  the 

Good, 
died  1467 


Anne,  =  John, 
Duke  of 
Bedford. 


208  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

Rivalry  be-  The  chief  rivals  for  the  control  of  the  government 
gundy  and  "^^^'^  the  Duke  of  Burgundy,  whose  great  territorial  power 
Orleans  j^^s  been  already  noticed,  and  Charles's  brother,  the  Duke 
The  Duke  of  Orleans.  The  latter  was  far  the  inferior  in  actual 
wealth  and  position ;  his  lands  though  extensive  were 
scattered,  and  his  purchase  of  Luxemburg  only  involved 
him  in  expense  and  infuriated  his  rival ;  but  he  had  con- 
siderable influence  and  an  attractive  personality  which 
won  him  friends,  despite  the  levity  and  unscrupulousness 
of  his  character.  Handsome,  of  a  ready  wit,  a  lover  of 
books  and  art,  a  benefactor  of  the  Church,  always  gay 
and  affable,  Orleans  reminds  one  in  many  ways  of  our 
own  Duke  Humphrey  of  Gloucester.  As  w^as  the  case  in 
the  rivalry  between  Gloucester  and  Beaufort,  this  quarrel 
meant  far  more  than  mere  personal  antagonism,  and 
The  two  the  two  principal  opponents  represented  the  two  great 
^'^"^  "^^  parties  into  which  the  Kingdom  was  divided.  The 
Orleans  party  was  that  of  the  old  feudal  nobility,  sup- 
porters of  privilege  and  arbitrary  power;  while  the 
Burgundians,  more  for  the  sake  of  opposition  than  from 
real  popular  leanings,  were  champions  of  municipal 
liberty  and  financial  reform,  thereby  winning  the  allegi- 
ance of  the  Parisians.  In  every  question  that  arose  the 
two  Dukes  took  opposite  sides.  Efforts  were  being 
made  at  the  time  to  end  the  Papal  schism,  and  while 
Burgundy  was  urging  the  retirement  of  Pope  Benedict, 
Orleans  was  his  staunchest  supporter.  In  England 
Orleans  posed  as  the  avenger  of  Eichard  IL,  while  Bur- 
gundy was  making  terms  with  the  Lancastrian  usurper. 
In  the  Empire  Wenzel  was  backed  up  by  Louis,  his 
rival  Kupert  of  the  Palatinate  by  Philip. 
John  the         This  state  of  affairs  was  but  little  affected  by  the  death 

Fearless  of  

Burgundy  in  1404  of  Philip  the  Bold.     His  son  John  the  Fearless 


HISTORY  OF  FRANCE,  1380-1453  209 

took  up  the  same  attitude,  possibly  with  even  greater 
animosity.  The  new  Duke  was  the  exact  opposite  of 
his  cousin  Orleans,  Short 'and  plain,  built  for  strength 
rather  than  grace,  he  was  silent,  cautious,  unattractive, 
and  extremely  ambitious.  A  sham  reconciliation  be- 
tween John  and  Louis,  when  apparently  "they  kissed 
one  another  with  tears  of  joy,"  was  followed  almost 
immediately  by  the  final  tragedy.  In  the  Eue  des 
Francs  Bourgeois  in  Paris  an  inscription  still  marks  the 
narrow  passage,  below  overhanging  eaves,  where  Louis 
of  Orleans  was  murdered.  He  had  been  with  Queen 
Isabella  of  Bavaria  in  Hotel  Barbette,  when  a  pre- 
tended message  from  the  King  was  brought  to  him. 
Fearing  no  danger  he  rode  idly  along  the  street,  swing- 
ing his  glove  and  singing  as  he  went,  his  escort  daw-  Murder  of 

o  o  o      o  ^^jg  Duke 

dling  behind.  Suddenly  he  was  attacked,  and,  utterly  of  Orleans, 
defenceless,  could  make  no  resistance.  This  time  there 
was  to  be  no  mistake,  the  body  was  almost  cut  to  pieces, 
and  a  horrified  woman  who  saw  the  tragedy  from  a 
neighbouring  window,  noticed  that  when  all  was  over, 
a  man  with  a  cap  pulled  over  his  eyes  came  and  said  to 
the  others:  "Put  out  your  lights,  he  is  quite  dead,  let 
us  be  off".  The  mutilated  remains  were  buried  in  a 
chapel,  which  Orleans  himself  had  built,  amidst  uni- 
versal horror  and  mourning.  The  coffin  was  borne  by 
his  uncle  of  Berry  and  his  cousins,  the  titular  King  of 
Sicily,  the  Duke  of  Bourbon  and  the  Duke  of  Burgundy. 
All  wept,  but  none  more  bitterly  than  Duke  John.  The 
crime  was  not  long  a  mystery  ;  Burgundy  acknowledged 
that  it  had  been  done  by  his  command.  "  It  was  I,  the 
Devil  tempted  me,"  he  whispered  to  the  old  Duke  of 
Bourbon,  probably  in  a  moment  of  repentance  and 
humiliation  ;  but  though  he  fled  after  his  avowal,  the 
14 


210  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

deed  was  not  regarded  with  universal  indignation. 
Orleans  had  long  ceased  to  be  popular  with  the  people, 
especially  in  Paris,  and  there  was  even  a  Master  of  the 
University  who  wrote  in  defence  of  the  act,  as  the  just 
removal  of  a  tyrant. 
Burgun-         John  of  Burgundy,  soon  restored  to  pride  and  self- 

dians  and  ^  -y  i  i       i-  x  •    j.    ■       i  • 

Armagnacs  Confidence,  was  able  tor  some  years  to  mamtam  his 
ascendency,  and  through  the  Dauphin  Louis,  who  was 
his  son-in-law,  became  the  practical  ruler  of  the  Kingdom. 
Vengeance,  however,  was  only  delayed,  not  averted.  The 
three  sons  of  the  murdered  man,  too  young  to  take  the 
lead  themselves,  were  joined  by  most  of  the  old  noble 
famihes,  and  especially  by  Bernard  of  Armagnac,  who 
now  became  the  head  of  the  party. 

France  was  divided  into  two  camps,  each  of  which  "took 
up  arms,  and  a  civil  war  broke  out,  known  in  history  as 
the  struggle  between  Armagnacs  and  Burgundians.  The 
complications  of  this  strife  of  parties  would  take  too  long 
to  unravel ;  the  results  of  it  were  seen  in  the  great 
misery  of  Paris  and  the  country  generally,  and  in  the  ex- 
treme dearness  of  food  and  terrible  poverty  and  distress. 
Above  all  the  civil  war  in  France  was  a  direct  cause  of  the 
Relations  new  English  invasion.  Hitherto  there  had  been  little 
land  °^  danger  from  England.  Eichard  II.,  when  freed  from 
his  own  difficulties,  had  made  peace  with  France  and 
married  the  Princess  Isabel.  Henry  IV.  had  had  no 
time  to  spare  from  securing  his  own  position ;  but  now 
Henry  V.,  young,  popular  and  warlike,  was  ready  to  re- 
assert the  old  claim  at  a  moment's  notice.  John  of  Bur- 
gundy, for  a  time  humbled  by  his  rivals,  began  to  treat 
with  the  enemy  of  France  and  offered  to  help  him  in  an 
attack  upon  the  dominions  of  the  Armagnacs.  Henry 
spent  some  time  negotiating,  but  he  meant  war  from 


HISTORY  OF  FRANCE,  1380-1453  211 

the  first,  and  it  did  not  require  the  Dauphin's  foolish  pre- 
sent of  tennis-balls  to  stir  up  his  zeal  for  the  enterprise. 

In  August,  1415,  he  landed  in  Normandy  with  a  English 
small  but  well-disciplined  army.  Harfleur,  a  sort  of  ^"4^5^'*^"' 
second  Calais,  was  taken  after  a  determined  resistance, 
and  Henry  sent  a  personal  challenge  to  the  Dauphin, 
the  combat  to  be  for  the  Crown  itself,  although,  whatever 
the  issue,  Charles  YI.  was  to  retain  it  as  long  as  he  hved. 
But  the  question  was  not  to  be  settled  in  this  summary 
fashion  ;  the  challenge  was  disregarded  and  the  English 
army  set  out  in  the  direction  of  Calais,  following  a  route 
very  similar  to  that  taken  by  Edward  III.  The  strictest 
order  was  kept  amongst  the  troops,  severe  penalties  be- 
ing imposed  on  all  plundering  and  on  all  deeds  of  vio- 
lence. The  port  was  not  to  be  reached  without  opposi- 
tion. A  large  force  of  the  French,  three  or  four  times 
equal  to  that  of  Henry,  faced  him  near  the  Castle  of 
Agincourt,  and  a  battle  was  inevitable.  The  situation  was  Battle  of 
one  of  the  greatest  danger,  but  the  King  was  cool  as  ever  25th  Oct.  ' 
"  By  the  God  of  Heaven  by  whose  grace  I  stand  and  in  ^^° 
whom  I  put  my  trust,  I  would  not  have  another  man  if  I 
could.  Wottest  thou  not  that  the  Lord  with  these  few  can 
overthrow  the  pride  of  the  French."  So  he  answered  one 
of  his  followers  who  ventured  to  wish  for  more  archers. 
The  soldiers  were  in  sore  need  of  encouragement,  they 
were  weakened  by  sickness  and  poor  food,  and  a  night 
of  pouring  rain  before  the  battle  did  not  contribute  to 
raise  their  spirits.  The  ground  was  not  particularly  in 
favour  of  the  English,  but  their  small  numbers  were 
skillfully  disposed  in  a  long  line,  all  on  foot  even  the 
King  himself,  and  the  archers  were  protected  from  a 
cavalry  attack  by  a  row  of  six-foot  stakes  planted  in 
front  of  them.     The  French,  on  the  other  hand,  were 


212       THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

in  three  solid  divisions,  one  behind  the  other,  for  the 
space  did  not  permit  all  their  numbers  to  commence  the 
fight  at  once.  They  had  archers,  but  these  were  use- 
lessly placed  behind  the  men  at  arms,  who  had  refused 
to  allow  them  what  was  considered  the  place  of  honour 
in  the  front.  Another  mistake,  arising  from  the  same 
jealous  pride,  was  that  all  the  princes  and  nobles  were 
in  the  first  division,  and  their  followers  almost  leaderless 
in  the  rearguard,  so  that  no  order  or  firmness  was  to 
be  expected  there.  Add  to  this  that  the  French  had  no 
real  commander-in-chief,  and  it  will  be  evident  that  the 
success  of  the  English  was  not  astonishing,  although 
their  courage  in  attacking  so  enormous  an  army  is  de- 
serving of  every  honour.  The  loss  of  life  on  the  French 
side  was  terrible :  fighting  in  such  close  ranks  the  sol- 
diers were  scarcely  able  to  defend  themselves,  and  when 
the  two  front  divisions  were  pressed  back,  the  rear  fled 
almost  without  striking  a  blow.  Henry  could,  however, 
do  no  more  that  campaign,  but  taking  ship  at  Calais 
returned  to  give  thanks  in  England  for  his  great  victory. 
Meanwhile  the  internal  discord  of  France  continued 
as  before  and  utterly  paralysed  resistance  to  the  foreign- 
ers: as  a  Parisian  writing  during  the  war  says,  "the 
nobles  were  far  too  busy  to  attend  to  the  English  !  " 
The  death  of  the  King's  two  eldest  sons  made  Charles 
Dauphin,  and  he  was  completely  under  the  control  of 
the  Armagnac  party,  whilst  John  the  Fearless  had  won 
Queen  Isabel  to  his  side.  These  divisions  encouraged 
Henry,  backed  up  also  by  the  Emperor  Sigismund,  to 
renew  the  attack,  and  war  was  recommenced  in  1417 
Rouen,       with  the  siege  of  Kouen.     The  garrison  was  starved 

forced  to  ^  ^  , 

capitulate,  out.     They  wcre  reduced,  says  a  chronicler,  "to  eating 
1419  dogs,  cats,  rats,  mice  and  such  things,  so  that  it  was 


HISTORY  OF  FRANCE,  1380-1453  213 

piteous  to  behold".  When  the  attack  began  the  poor 
were  driven  from  the  town  to  save  the  scanty  provisions. 
Henry  would  not  let  them  pass  his  lines,  but  provided 
food  for  them,  and  they  Hved  in  the  dry  moat  whilst 
the  siege  went  on.  Babies  were  drawn  up  in  baskets 
to  be  baptised  and  then  let  down  again,  and  on  Christ- 
mas Day  a  dinner  was  provided  for  them  by  the  Enghsh 
King  in  honour  of  the  festival.  Nevertheless,  despite 
his  kindness  of  heart,  Henry  did  not  make  war  as  though 
it  were  a  tournament  or  knightly  exercise;  he 'made 
stiff  terms  with  the  conquered,  and  would  listen  to  no 
plans  for  peace  which  did  not  give  him  all  that  Edward 
III.  had  gained  at  Bretigni,  with  Normandy  in  addition. 
Negotiations  seemed  to  be  falling  through  when  an 
event  occurred  which  practically  threw  France  into  the 
hands  of  the  English. 

After   many   efforts,   peace    at    last  seemed    possible  Murder  or 

A  n   J.^       T\    ^  t  John  ot 

between  Burgundians  and  Armagnacs,  and  the  Duke  ot  Burgundy, 
Burgundy,  though  not  without  some  hesitation,  con- ^^JJg  ' ''P  " 
sented  to  a  meeting  with  the  Dauphin.  Tanneguy  du 
Chatel,  now  the  practical  leader  of  the  Armagnac  party 
himself  silenced  his  fears  :  "  My  honoured  lord,  have  no 
doubts ;  Monsieur  is  well  pleased  with  you,  and  wishes 
in  future  to  govern  as  you  wish ;  and  besides,  you  have 
good  friends  near  him  who  love  you  ".  "  We  trust  in 
your  word,"  repHed  the  Duke,  "but  see  well  that  what 
you  say  is  true,  for  you  will  do  ill  to  betray  us."  "I 
would  rather  die  than  betray  you  or  any  one,"  swore  the 
false  Tanneguy  ;  and  together  they  rode  to  the  meeting- 
place.  On  a  bridge  at  Montereau  barricades  had  been 
erected,  and  the  two  principals  entered  accompanied 
by  a  few  followers.  John  the  Fearless  knelt  to  the 
Dauphin,  and  in  tliis  position,  unable  to  draw  his  sword, 


214  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

he  was  struck  down  by  a  gang  of  men  who  rushed  up 
from  behind  the  Prince,  but  Tanneguy  himself  is  said 
to  have  dealt  the  first  blow.  The  murder  was  disastrous 
for  the  country.  More  than  a  century  later,  a  monk 
showing  Francis  I.  the  great  dent  made  by  a  blow  in 
the  skull  of  John  the  Fearless,  said:  "Sire,  that  is. 
the  hole  through  which  the  Enghsh  entered  France". 
John's  son  Phihp,  now  Duke  of  Burgundy,  who  thought 
of  nothing  but  how  to  avenge  his  father,  was  ready  to 
make  any  terms  with  the  English,  and  by  his  assistance 
the  Treaty  of  Troyes  was  drawn  up,  the  terms  of  which 
would  debar  the  family  of  his  father's  murderer  for 
ever  from  the  succession.  Charles  VI.  was  to  be  left  in 
possession  of  the  Kingdom  for  his  life,  but  Henry  was 
to  be  Eegent,  was  to  marry  the  Princess  Catherine  and 
to  succeed  when  the  King  died.  "  This  seemed  strange 
to  some  in  France,"  a  chronicler  quaintly  remarks,  "  but 
nothing  else  could  be  done  for  the  present."  With 
characteristic  energy  the  English  King  allowed  himself 
one  day  only  for  his  marriage  festivities,  and  when 
urged  to  hold  a  great  tournament  on  the  morrow  re- 
plied :  "  Next  morning  we  must  be  ready  to  besiege  the 
Castle  of  Sens,  where  we  shall  find  the  enemies  of  our 
lord  the  King,  and  there  can  each  of  us  joust  and  tourney 
and  display  his  prowess  and  hardihood  ". 

Henry's  enemies  could  now  be  looked  on  as  rebels, 
and  the  two  years  of  his  Kegency  were  still  years  of 
fighting  for  the  suppression  of  rebellion.  In  1422,  worn 
out  by  his  exertions,  he  died  at  Vincennes  when  only 
thirty-five,  and  was  mourned  by  French  as  well  as 
English,  for  his  rule  though  severe  was  just  and  orderly. 
Pierre  de  Fenin  writes  of  the  grief  felt  at  his  death, 
"  for  he  was  a  prince  of  much  understanding,  who  had 


HISTORY  OF  FEANCE,  1380-1453  215 

great  regard  for  justice,  so  that  the  poor  loved  him  above 
all  others.  Moreover  he  vt^as  determined  to  protect  the 
lower  classes  against  the  insupportable  violence  and  ex- 
tortions of  the  nobles,  which  won  him  the  favour  and 
prayers  of  the  Clergy  as  well  as  of  the  poor  people." 

Two  months  later  the  poor  mad  King  of  France  at  Death  of 
last  ended  his  long  and  miserable  reign.     He  was  much  vi.,  Oct. 

14.99 

lamented  by  his  subjects,  who  had  always  kept  a  warm 
place  in  their  hearts  for  the  unfortunate  monarch  and 
firmly  believed  that  he  would  have  done  great  things  had 
he  only  been  given  a  mind  more  robust.  The  nobles 
paid  no  reverence  to  his  corpse,  which  was  accompanied 
to  the  tomb  by  Henry's  brother  the  Duke  of  Bedford  and 
his  English  followers  :  but  the  Parisians  wept  as  the 
funeral  procession  passed  through  their  streets.  "  Each 
cried  as  though  at  the  death  of  their  best  beloved." 
"Ah  dear  Prince,  never  shall  we  see  you  again,  never 
shall  we  have  one  so  good."  As  the  King's  body  was 
placed  in  its  resting  place  at  St.  Denis,  the  Herald  pro- 
claimed:  "God  give  good  life  to  King  Henry,  by  the 
grace  of  God,  King  of  France  and  England  our  sovereign 
lord  ".  But  the  j)eopIe  murmured  when  they  saw  the 
sword  of  the  French  Kings  borne  before  Bedford  as 
Eegent  for  the  infant  English  monarch. 

There  were  now  two  Kings  in  France.  The  English  Two  Kings 
held  Paris  for  Henry  VI.,  a  child  of  ten  months  old,  who 
was  also  recognised  in  Picardy,  Normandy,  Champagne, 
Guienne,  Gascony  and  the  Burgundian  territories. 
Charles  VH.  at  Bourges  had  the  support  of  Touraine, 
Dauphine,  Berry  and  Poitou.  Brittany  was  doubtful, 
but  eventually  leant  towards  the  French  side,  when 
Arthur  of  Richemont,  brother  of  the  Duke,  became  Con- 
stable. 


216  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

Regency  of     Bedford's  task  was  no  easy  one.     The  English  power 
Bed?ord^°*^ested  on  little  but  the  support  of  Burgundy  and  the 
discords  in    France;    even  in    the   districts   nominally 
under  their  control  resistance  was  constant.    The  Regent 
worked  his  hardest  to  maintain  his  brother's  conquest. 
He  married  Anne,  sister  of  Philip  of  Burgundy  ;    he 
strove  for  peace,  reform  and  good  government,  ruHng 
Battle  of    through  French  ofhcials  and  according  to  old  customs. 
uTiTAilg.   A.t  Verneuil,  against  odds  almost  as  great  as  at  Agincourt, 
^*"^'*  he  won  a  complete  victory  over  a  combined  army  of 

Scotch  and  French  :  but  there  were  forces  at  work 
against  which  even  so  able  a  man  as  Bedford  could  not 
contend.  Philip  of  Burgundy  was  at  best  a  very  doubt- 
Humphrey  ful  ally  ;  and  with  incredible  selfishness  Humphrey  of 
^s?ir'  Gloucester,  the  younger  brother  of  Henry  V.,  exasperated 
Bli?und  •  ^^^  ^y  ^  marriage  with  Jacqueline  of  Hainault,  a  cousin 
of  the  Duke,  after  getting  the  anti-Pope  to  divorce  her 
from  the  Duke  of  Brabant,  to  whom  Philip  himself  had 
married  her :  more  than  this,  he  laid  claim  to  her  terri- 
tories, on  which  her  kinsman  had  designs  on  his  own 
account.  Bedford  smoothed  things  down  for  the  time  ; 
Jacqueline  acknowledged  Philip  as  her  heir  in  Holland, 
Hainault  and  Zealand,  and  his  attention  became  absorbed 
in  strengthening  his  dominions  in  the  direction  of  the 
Netherlands  ;  but  relations  with  his  old  allies  were  not 
made  more  cordial  by  this  event. 

EngHsh  rule,  however,  was  doomed,  whether  Bur- 
gundian  support  was  retained  or  no.  The  very  fact  of 
the  long  war  with  England  and  the  sense  of  a  common 
danger  were  beginning  to  develop  in  France  a  spirit  of 
nationality,  which  sooner  or  later  was  bound  to  sweep 
the  foreigner  out  of  her  land.  The  train  was  laid,  but 
a  match  was  needed  to  kindle  the  fire ;  and  the  credit 


FRANCE  in  1429 


Royal    Domain  held  by  Henry  VI     ^TTTX  All  North  of  line- •-  obedient  to  hi 

Royal   Domain  held  by  CharlesVII    P:^ 


218  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

of  this  must  be  given  to  the  heroic  Maid  of  Orleans, 
who  despite  her  apparent  failure  and  cruel  death  infused 
fresh  life  and  vigour  into  the  party  of  resistance,  and 
aroused  a  spirit  of  enthusiasm  throughout  the  country, 
of  incalculable  value. 
Weak  posi-     The  fortuues  of  France  seemed  at  the  lowest  ebb  when 

tiou  of  the    -r  i-    A  -It  ^11 

French  J  oau  01  Arc  appeared  on  the  scene.  Charles,  under  the 
influence  of  evil  counsellors,  was  sunk  in  apathy  and  des- 
pair ;  the  English  were  besieging  Orleans  which  had  lost 
hope  of  succour,  and  the  fall  of  which  would  have  de- 
livered Touraine,  Berry  and  Poitou,  strongholds  of  the 
French  party,  into  the  hands  of  the  Enghsh :  never  was 
help  more  urgently  needed,  and  it  came  in  the  person  of 
a  young  girl,  inexperienced  and  uneducated,  but  inspired 
by  love  of  her  country  and  belief  in  her  mission. 

Joan  of  Joan  of  Arc  was  born  of  peasant  parents  in  Domremy, 

a  village  on  the  borders  of  Lorraine ;  she  had  been 
taught  to  sew  by  her  mother  and  had  been  occupied 
either  working  at  home  or  guarding  her  father's  sheep 
all  her  life :  she  had  little  learning  but  a  vivid  religious 
faith.  When  only  twelve  years  of  age  she  had  heard 
"  voices,"  which  she  believed  to  be  those  of  St.  Catherine 
and  St.  Margaret,  bidding  her  leave  her  home  and  go 
forth  to  the  help  of  the  King  of  France  to  whom  she 
should  restore  the  Kingdom  ;  and  this  order  was  repeated 
again  and  again.  Despite  the  entreaties  of  her  parents 
whom  she  dearly  loved,  Joan  felt  that  she  must  obey 
the  divine  message ;  she  went  forth  to  Vaucouleurs  and 
begged  the  Captain  of  the  town  to  send  her  to  Charles : 
"My  lord  captain,  know  that  God  has  told  me  many 
times  to  go  to  the  gentle  Dauphin,  who  should  be  and 
is  the  true  King  of  France,  and  that  he  must  give  me 
men  at  arms,  with  whose  aid  I  shall  raise  the  siege  of 


HISTORY  OF  FRANCE,  1380-1453  219 

Orleans  and  lead  him  to  be  crowned  at  Rheims."  After 
much  persuasion  the  Captain  gave  her  a  small  escort, 
and  dressed  as  a  man  she  set  out  for  Chinon  on  the 
river  Indre  where  Charles  was  then  dwelling.  Here, 
having  gained  admission,  she  went  straight  to  the  King, 
although  he  was  in  no  way  distinguished  from  the  many 
nobles  who  surrounded  him,  and  proffered  her  request. 
It  was  long  before  she  could  win  favour.  Eventually 
she  was  taken  to  Poitiers  and  questioned  by  learned 
doctors,  to  whom  she  answered  modestly  but  with  a 
shrewd  sense  of  humour,  and  more  than  held  her  own.  siege  of 
At  last  Charles  let  her  go  with  a  small  force  to  join  the  ^^'^'^"■^^^ 
French  already  confronting  the  besiegers,  and  she  won 
the  hearts  of  all  by  her  confidence  and  j)iety.  The  Eng- 
lish before  Orleans  had  erected  towers  or  bastilles,  from 
which  they  assaulted  the  town,  and  these  the  rescuers 
had  to  storm.  Joan  first  dictated  a  letter  to  the  English 
commander  demanding  surrender:  "If  you  will  not  do 
right,  the  Maid  will  act  so  that  the  French  shall  perform 
the  finest  deed  that  has  ever  been  done  in  Christendom  ". 
There  were  days  of  hard  fighting  before  the  besiegers  were 
driven  off.  Joan  led  the  attacks  and  all  marvelled  that 
she  seemed  to  understand  the  art  of  war  like  a  veteran 
commander.  At  the  final  assault,  though  wounded,  she 
bore  her  banner  to  the  ramparts,  and  when  it  touched 
them  she  cried  :  "  All  is  yours,  enter  in  !  " — they  entered 
and  the  town  was  reheved.  The  Enghsh  retreated  dis-gjeo-e 
couraged  and  alarmed,  Orleans  welcomed  her  deliverer  o^P^'l' 

'^    _  '  _  8th  Mfty, 

as  a  Saint,  and  all  France  resounded  with  praise  and  1429 
joy.     Joan  could  not  rest  with  her  mission  half  fulfilled  : 
Charles,  still  hesitating,  was  almost  forced  by  her  to  Battle  of 
Rheims,  the  way  having  been  cleared  by  another  victory  fgth  j'uue 
at  Patay.     Before  this  battle  Joan  asked  the  Duke  of  i^'^^ 


220  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

Alen9on,  who  came  to  know  if  they  should  fight ;  "  Have 

you  your  spurs  ?  "     "  What !  "  said  he,  "  are  we  to  retire 

or  to  fly?"     "No,  indeed,"  she  repHed,  "  they  will  fly 

and  you  will  need  your  spurs  to  pursue  them  "  :  and  it 

happened  as  she  foretold, 

Charles  In  the  Cathedral  at  Kheims  where  all  previous  Kings 

VII  .  • 

crovvned  at  had  been  crowned,  Charles  was  anointed  with  the  holy 

frth  July   '^^^'  Joa-i^  standing  by,  standard  in  hand.     When  all  was 
1129  Qver  she  humbly  embraced  the  King's  knees,  shedding 

tears  of  joy.  "  Gentle  King,  now  the  will  of  God  has 
been  done,  for  He  wished  that  you  should  come  to 
Kheims  to  be  crowned,  to  show  that  you  are  the  true 
King  to  whom  the  Kingdom  ought  to  belong." 

Even  now  Joan's  advice  was  not  always  followed,  and 
sorely  against  her  wishes  the  siege  of  Paris  was  aban- 
doned, although  such  was  the  panic  amongst  the  enemy, 
that  a  bold  move  had  every  hope  of  success.  Weary  of 
delay  the  Maid,  on  her  own  account,  led  a  small  force 
to  Compiegne,  which  w^as  being  attacked  by  the  English 
Capture  of  ally,  the  Duke  of  Burgundy.  Here  her  courage  carried 
Joan,  1430  j^gj,  ^^^  £g^j,^  g^j-j^  gj^g  £gU  j^-^^q  ^l^g  hauds  of  Johu  of  Luxem- 
burg ;  he  sold  her  to  the  English,  who  were  overjoyed  at 
the  chance  of  destroying  the  "witch".  Charles  VH. 
stirred  not  a  finger  to  save  her ;  never  can  his  memory 
be  cleared  from  the  shame  of  such  a  desertion.  She 
was  taken  to  Kouen,  where  a  long  trial  began,  conducted 
by  the  Bishop  of  Beauvais,  a  partisan  of  England  and 
Tiiai  Burgundy ;  and  every  ingenuity  was  exercised  to  con- 
vict her  of  heresy  and  witchcraft.  Through  long  days 
of  questioning  Joan  stood  firm ;  she  would  neither  deny 
the  divine  nature  of  her  message,  nor  let  fall  a  word 
which  might  involve  her  King  in  blame.  Her  answers 
not   only    show    her   saintliness   and  courage,  but  dis- 


HISTORY  OF  FRANCE,  1380-1453  221 

play  a  fund  of  common  sense  and  shrewdness,  which 
were  peculiarly  characteristic  of  her.  Not  till  the  very 
last  did  she  waver.  Then  worn  out  by  a  sermon  of 
denunciations,  terrified  by  the  thought  of  the  faggot  and 
the  stake,  urged  by  a  friend  to  save  her  life,  she  set  her 
mark  to  a  document  which  was  a  denial  of  her  saints  and 
of  the  sacredness  of  her  mission.  In  return  her  life  was 
spared  and  she  was  condemned  to  imprisonment  for  life. 
Her  weakness  was  but  momentary  ;  once  more  encour- 
aged by  the  heavenly  voices,  she  repudiated  her  denial 
and  went  to  her  death  as  a  relapsed  heretic.     In  the  Death  of 

1-11  n       Joan  ot 

Market  Place  of  Kouen,  on  a  platform  high  above  theArc,  28tii 
crowd,  Joan  of  Arc  was  burnt  to  death.  "  My  voices  ^^^^  ^^^^ 
were  of  God,  they  have  not  deceived  me,"  she  cried  as 
the  flames  rose  round  her.  Scarcely  an  eye  was  dry 
amongst  the  spectators,  even  her  judges  wept.  "  We 
are  lost,  we  have  killed  a  saint,"  cried  King  Henry's 
secretary,  in  tardy  horror  at  the  deed. 

It  was  true  that  the  EngHsh  cause  was  lost:  they 
themselves  were  losing  energy  and  self-confidence  while 
the  French  were  gaining  it ;    but  the  dreary  struggle  coronation 
dragged  on  yet  for  many  years.     Bedford  brought  the  yj  ^t"^ 
young  King  to  France,  and  his  coronation  at  Paris  was  p^"**-  ^^^^ 
intended  as  a  counter-blast  to  the  ceremony  at  Kheims  ; 
but  the  affair  was  a  dismal  failure.     No  impression  was 
made  on  the  French,  none  but  English  took  part  in  the 
service,    which   was   performed    according    to    English 
rites ;  above  all  it  was  accompanied  by  none  of  those 
gracious  acts  which  usually  graced  the  coronation  of  a 
new  monarch,  little  money  was  distributed  amongst  the 
people  and  no  prisoners  were  released.     Meanwhile  the  loss  of  the 
Duke   of   Burgundy,    the   one   weak   prop    of   EngHsh  Jj^^^X- 
power,  was  becoming  more  and  more  ahenated  :  pos-*"^^ 


222  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

sibly  the  career  of  the  Maid  of  Orleans  had  had  some 
effect  even  on  Duke  Philip,  assuredly  he  felt  that  it  was 
better  to  be  on  the  winning  side,  whilst  little  by  little 
the  ties  which  bound  him  to  England  were  loosening. 
His  sister  the  Duchess  of  Bedford  had  died  and  for  once 
her  wise  husband  had  committed  an  imprudence  in 
forming  a  new  marriage  with  the  young  Jacquetta  of 
Luxemburg,  a  vassal  of  Burgundy.  Even  the  Emperor 
Sigismund  had  been  won  over  to  Charles  VII.  and  had 
denounced  the  ambitions  of  Duke  Philip  ;  whilst  his 
subjects,  Parisians,  Burgundians  and  Flemings,  were  all 
longing  for  peace.  Just  at  the  last  one  more  stumbling- 
block  was  removed  by  the  death  of  John  of  Bedford,  an 
Treaty  of  incalculable  loss  for  the  English,  and  with  the  Treaty 
Arras,  1435  ^^  ^rrag  the  loug  hostility  between  France  and  Bur- 
gundy was  ended  for  the  time,  the  Duke  being  bought 
off  by  very  substantial  bribes.  He  was  granted  the 
counties  of  Ma9on  and  Auxerre,  the  towns  on  the 
Somme  which  gave  him  a  strong  footing  in  Picardy, 
and  he  was  to  be  free  for  life  from  all  feudal  subjection 
to  Charles  VII. 

Even  the  King  was  awaking  to  some  sort  of  energy, 
thanks,  it  is  said,  to  his  love  for  the  beautiful  Agnes 
Sorel,  who  stimulated  his  dormant  ambition  and  cried 
shame  on  his  slackness.  Paris  was  retaken  by  the 
Constable  Kichemont,  who  had  lately  gone  over  to  the 
side  of  the  French,  and  Charles  on  his  solemn  entry  into 
the  capital,  was  received  with  heartfelt  enthusiasm. 
Peace  party  England  was  at  this  time  weakened  by  those  quarrels 
m  England  ^^^  divisions  which  were  fast  leading  to  the  Wars  of 
the  Eoses ;  and  accordingly  the  Duke  of  Suffolk  in 
1444  negotiated  a  truce,  which  was  ratified  by  the  mar- 
riage of  Henry   to  the  famous   Margaret  of  Anjou,  a 


HISTORY  OF  FRANCE,  1380-1453  223 

union  which  was  fraught  with  disturbing  consequences 
to   his    Kingdom.     The  truce   brought    anything    but 
peace  to  France,  which,  as  after  Bretigny,  was  wasted 
by  bands  of  professional  soldiers,  Ecorcheurs  as  they  were 
now  called,  because  they  skinned  their  victims  to  the 
very  shirt ;  but  at  least  it  gave  Charles  time  to  recon- 
struct his  army,  to  restore  financial  order,  and  to  get  a 
control   over  the  government.     Thus   when  hostilities 
were  renewed  he  was  better  able  to  face  them.     Bit  by 
bit  lands  were  recovered  from  the  English.     Normandy  Loss  of 
was  retaken  and  by  1453  all  Guienne  but  Bordeaux  had  polessionH 
succumbed.     A  last  effort  was  made  to  save  the  port,  "^  ^•"^""'^ 
which  itself  was  loyal  to  the  English  rule,  and  Talbot,  a 
veteran  warrior  eighty  years  of  age,   but  still  full   of 
energy,  was  sent  to  its  relief.     At  Castillon,  however, 
he   lost    his   own   life    and   his   troops   were   defeated. 
Bordeaux  fell,  and  of  all  she  had  possessed  since  the 
twelfth  century,  of  all  the  conquests  of  Edward  III.  and  Battle  of 
Henry  V.,  nothing  remained  to  England  but  the  town  and  end  of 
of  Calais.     The  Hundred  Years'  War  was  over  at  last.  ^^''''  ^^^^ 
The  long  struggle  had  left  traces  in  France   which  Results  of 
could  not  at  once  be  effaced.     The  country  was  wasted,  France^  °" 
depopulated,  apparently  ruined :  but  no  race  has  more 
recuperative  power   than  the  French,  and  the  energy 
and  industry  of  the  people  rendered  recovery  extraordin- 
arily rapid :  above  all  France  had  become  a  nation,  and 
a  nation  which  was  to  take  a  position  of  the  greatest 
prominence  in  the  centuries  to  follow.     Politically  every- 
thing tended  to  establish  the  absolutism  of  the  Crown  ; 
the  French  asked  for  nothing  but  peace  and  order,  and 
gave  up  the  liberties   they  had  won  earlier  without  a 
murmur.     The  nobles  endeavoured  feebly  to  resist,  but 
the   Pmguerie,  as  their    attempt   was    called,   came   to 


224  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

nothing ;  they  had  been  tried  and  found  wanting ;  and 
love  of  country  came  more  and  more  to  be  bound  up 
with  loyalty  to  the  King. 

Much  of  this  revival  of  the  French  Monarchy  was 
due  to  the  counsellors  of  Charles  VII.,  Charles  the  well- 
served,  as  he  has  been  truly  called  ;  and  these  counsellors 
were  chiefly  members  of  the  bourgeois  class.  Of  these 
the  best  known  is  Jacques  Coeur,  a  rich  merchant  of 
Bourges,  where  his  house  is  still  shown  adorned  with 
the  device  "  a  vaillans  (two  painted  hearts)  rien  impos- 
sible ".  He  became  the  King's  treasurer  and  did  much 
to  improve  the  finances  and  to  reform  the  currency. 
Amongst  other  changes  the  taille,  formerly  levied  by 
all  lords  in  their  own  estates,  was  made  into  a  royal  tax 
only  to  be  paid  to  the  King.  For  this  and  for  his  great 
wealth  he  incurred  much  hatred  amongst  the  upper 
classes,  and  a  case  was  got  up  against  him,  on  the  pre- 
tence that  he  had  poisoned  Agnes  Sorel.  Although 
this  absurd  accusation  fell  through,  others  were  invented, 
the  King  did  not  defend  him,  and  he  was  banished  after 
being  deprived  of  all  his  possessions.  Another  burgess, 
Jean  Bureau,  did  so  much  work  for  the  French  artillery 
that,  for  more  than  a  century,  it  was  considered  superior 
to  that  of  any  other  country. 

The  reign  of  Charles  VII.  left  France  an  independent 
country,  v^nth  a  standing  army  ^  and  an  orderly  govern- 
ment ;  but  he  passed  his  last  years  in  suspicion  and 

1  By  the  Ordinance  of  1439  no  one  was  to  be  allowed  to  raise  a 
company  of  soldiers  without  royal  licence,  and  all  captains  were  to 
be  nominated  by  the  King.  Very  severe  regulations  were  laid 
down  against  pillage ;  both  cavalry  and  infantry  were  placed 
definitely  under  the  Crown.  This  Ordinance  could  not  be  carried 
out,  at  once,  but  came  into  force  1445-48. 


HISTOKY  OF  FRANCE,  1380-1453  225 

misery,  disliked  by  the  nobles,  deserted  by  the  Dauphin, 
the  future  Louis  XL,  and  endangered  by  the  ambitions 
of  the  Duke  of  Burgundy :  it  is  even  said  that  he  starved 
himself  to  death  for  fear  of  poison.  It  is  hard  to  feel 
any  pity  for  a  man  who  had  showq  such  shameful 
apathy,  such  base  ingratitude,  and  whose  successes  were 
wholly  due  to  the  exertion  and  devotion  of  others. 

ADDITIONAL  BOOKS 

Kitchin  :  History  of  France,  vol.  i. 
Charlotte  M.  Yonge  :  The  Caged  Lion. 


15 


CHAPTEK  XI 

THE  SHORES  OP  THE  BALTIC 


Importance  'T'^HE  Baltic  Sea  was  to  the  North  of  Europe  what 


of  the  Bal-        I 
tic  X 


chief  trade  of  the  North  was  conducted  along  its  shores  ; 
ships  plied  constantly  from  the  Baltic  to  the  North  Sea 
and  thus  to  Western  Europe ;  the  fishing  industry, 
especially  in  the  days  when  the  strict  rules  of  the  Church 
rendered  fish  an  indispensable  commodity,  was  a  great 
source  of  wealth,  and  it  was  here  that  herrings  could  be 
caught  in  the  greatest  numbers  ;  the  coast  of  Skaania,  as 
the  southern  portion  of  the  Swedish  Peninsula  was 
called,  was  the  favourite  haunt  of  the  herring  in  the 
fourteenth  and  early  fifteenth  centuries.  Important 
towns  sprang  up  on  the  shores  of  the  Baltic  and  the 
North  Sea,  and  the  question  who  should  exercise  control 
over  these  valuable  waters  and  to  whom  should  fall  the 
lion's  share  of  the  profits  of  trade  and  fishing,  became  a 
burning  one. 

This  political  question,  arising  chiefly    out  of    com- 
mercial rivalries  on  the  West,  was  complicated  on  the 
southern  and  eastern  shores  by  religious  considerations, 
luhabi-  The  Baltic  Sea  and  its  neighbouring  waters  were  sur- 

Baitic        rounded  by  three  different   races.     The  Scandinavians 
coasts        inhabited  Denmark,  Sweden  and  Norway ;  the  Germans 
Mecklenberg  and  part  of  Pomerania,  the  closely  con- 

226 


228  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

nected  coast  of  the  North  Sea  and  Brandenburg,  which 
was  not  far  from  the  ocean  ;  while  the  South  and  East, 
part  of  Pomerania,  Prussia,  Lithuania,  Livonia  and  Es- 
thonia  was  the  home  of  the  Slavs,  the  same  race  which 
inhabited  Poland  and  Bohemia.  Long  before  our  period 
begins,  the  Poles  and  Bohemians  had  been  converted  to 
Christianity  and  so  had  the  Wends,  as  the  Western  Slavs 
in  Pomerania  were  called,  a  country  which  had  been 
practically  Germanised.  From  the  Valley  of  the  Vistula 
eastwards,  the  Slavonic  people  of  the  coast  were  heathen 
and  uncivilised.  Efforts  had  been  made  from  time  to  time 
to  win  over  the  Prussians  and  their  neighbours  to  the 
Christian  faith,  but  the  work  of  conversion  was  dangerous 
as  well  as  difficult,  and  early  in  the  thirteenth  century  a 
Polish  Duke  invited  a  body  of  German  Knights  to  aid 
in  the  task.  The  conquest  of  Prussia  and  the  settlement 
of  the  south-eastern  provinces  of  the  Baltic  were  there- 
fore begun  by  Germans  instead  of  Christianised  Slavs. 
The  Ten-  The  Teutonic  Knights  thus  introduced  into  the  North 
touio  r  er-y^^gj-g  g^  military  order,  founded  originally  at  the  time  of 
Frederick  Barbarossa's  Crusade  to  the  Holy  Land.  After 
the  great  Emperor's  death  a  few  fragments  of  the  German 
army  struggled  on  to  take  part  in  the  siege  of  Acre,  where 
some  pious  merchants  of  Bremen  and  Liibeck  formed 
a  body  of  soldier-nurses  to  look  after  the  sick  of  their  own 
race  ;  and  the  "  German  Knights  of  St.  Mary,"  as  they 
were  called,  grew  into  an  important  order  with  rules 
very  similar  to  those  of  the  Templars,  from  whom,  how- 
ever, they  were  distinguished  by  the  black  cross  which 
they  bore  on  their  long  white  mantles,  while  their 
national  character  was  secured  by  the  admission  of  none 
but  Germans  to  full  membership  of  the  order. 

When  Palestine  ceased  to  present  opportunities  for 


THE  SHORES  OF  THE  BALTIC  229 

military  energy,  the  Teutonic  Knights  had  made  their 
head-quarters  at  Venice,  and  from  thence  they  gladly 
came  to  fight  against  the  heathens  of  Northern  Europe. 
They  built  their  fortresses  of  Thorn,  Kulm  and  Marien- 
werder  along  the  valley  of  the  Vistula,  and  joined  hands 
with  a  small  military  order,  called  the  Knights  of  the 
Sword,  which  had  already  been  established  at  Eiga  to 
force  Christianity  on  the  heathen  Livonians  more  to  the 
North.  Conversion  in  the  eyes  of  the  Teutonic  Knights 
meant  conquest,  the  sword  was  their  chief  method  of 
deahng  with  the  heathen.     Little  by  Httle  Prussia  fell  Conquest 

'^  ■  .  of  Prussia 

under  their  rule,  and  Poland  saw  to  her  disgust  a  strong 
German  mihtary  State  established  along  the  shores  of 
the  Baltic,  where  she  would  have  preferred  to  extend 
her  own  Christianity  under  Slavonic  rule.  In  the  early 
fourteenth  century,  when  the  fate  of  the  Templars 
showed  what  might  be  in  store  for  any  Mihtary  Order 
which  could  give  no  sufficient  reason  for  its  continued 
existence,  the  whole  Teutonic  body  concentrated  itself 
in  Prussia,  and  the  Grand  Master  made  Marienburg  his 
permanent  head-quarters.  From  thence  they  conquered 
land  to  the  West  of  the  Vistula  with  the  important 
towns  of  Elbing  and  Danzig;  and  the  Emperor,  glad  of 
the  extension  of  German  influence  in  these  important 
regions,  confirmed  their  rights  and  took  them  imder  his 
special  protection. 

The  fourteenth  century  marks  the  highest  point  in  The 
the  fortunes  of  the  Teutonic  Knights.     They  had  great  tiie  heigiit 
territorial  power,  and  though  Poland  was  a  jealous  rival,  po^er" 
they  were  able  to  hold  their  own  in  wars  against  her ;  i-JJ^^^^^teenth 
they  still  had  the  reputation  of  being  unconquerable  and  ceutmy 
the  honour  of  fighting  for  Christianity  against  the  heathen 
Lithuanians  who  were  blocking  their  progress  on  the 


230  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

East.  In  this  famous  military  order  of  the  North,  to- 
gether with  cold  calculation  of  political  motives,  there 
still  lingered  something  of  the  old  chivalry  which  had  in- 
spired the  early  Knights  ;  plans  of  valuable  territorial 
conquest  were  still  combined  with  crusading  ardour  and 
religious  zeal.  All  youths  who  wished  for  distinction  in 
arms  were  anxious  to  obtain  some  of  their  training 
amongst  these  white-robed  warriors  of  the  North  ;  here 
we  find  Henry  of  Derby  fighting,  before  he  seized  the 
English  throne  as  Henry  IV. ;  here  the  gallant  John 
of  Bohemia  lost  his  eyesight  in  the  midst  of  Lithuanian 
Growing  uiarshes.  Towards  the  close  of  this  century,  however, 
( angers  i\^qj.q  ^^QlQ  signs  of  coming  danger.  The  chief  towns  in 
the  dominions  of  the  Kiiights,  such  as  Danzig,  Elbing, 
Thorn  and  Konigsberg,  were  members  of  the  Hanseatic 
League  of  which  we  have  still  to  speak  :  united  that  is 
with  other  German  cities  in  a  way  which  tended  to  make 
them  very  independent  of  their  immediate  rulers.  Then 
the  union  of  Kalmar,  which  placed  Sweden,  Norway  and 
Denmark  all  under  the  same  ruler,  was  a  menace  to  the 
influence  of  the  Order  in  the  Baltic  :  but  worse  than  all 
was  the  accession  of  Jagello  of  Lithuania  to  the  throne 
of  Poland  and  his  acceptance  of  the  Christian  faith.  It 
will  be  remembered  that  the  death  of  Lewis  the  Great  of 
Hungary  and  Poland  had  left  his  dominions  to  be  divided 
between  two  daughters,  and  that  Hedwig,  the  youngest, 
was  invited  to  rule  in  Poland  on  condition  that  she  gave 
.Jagello  of  her  hand  to  the  Lithuanian  Duke ;  and  this  Jagello 
becomeT"^  was  baptised  and  crowned  under  the  name  of  Ladislas 
^"??,      „  in  1386.     The  union  of  Poland  and  Lithuania  meant  a 

Ladislas  ot 

Poland,  very  strong  and  hostile  power  which  threatened  the 
dominions  of  the  Teutonic  Knights,  and  the  baptism  of 
Jagello,  followed  as  it  was  by  the  forced  conversion  of 


THE  SHORES  OF  THE  BALTIC  231 

all  his  heathen  subjects,  removed  the  formal  pretext  for 
the  continued  advance  of  the  Northern  Crusaders.  In 
1410  a  severe  defeat  at  Tannenberg  shovi^ed  at  last  that  Battle  of 

Tannen- 

a   Slavonic  army  could  defeat  a  German  one,  and  de-berg, i4io 
stroyed  the  belief  in  the  impossibility  of  conquering  the 
Teutonic  Knights ;  fifty-one  German  banners,  hung  in 
the  Church  of  Crakow,  remained  to  keep  alive  the  pride 
of  the  victors.     For  the  time,  the  heroism  of  Henry  of 
Plauen,  the  Grand  Master,  who  held  out  at  Marienburg 
despite  apparently  overwhelming  odds,  saved  the  Order 
from  total  destruction  ;  but  its  power  was  badly  shaken 
and  German  Territory  on  the  Southern  Baltic  was  fall- 
ing back  once  more  into  the  hands  of  the  Slavs.    Shortly 
after  our  period  ends,  Poland  obtained  the  lands  which 
the  Knights  had  conquered  to  the  West  of  the  Vistula,  Peace  of 
and  they  were  only  allowed  to  retain  their  territory  in  i466  ' 
Eastern  Prussia  as  a  Polish  fief. 

While  the  Germans  were  thus  competing  with  Slavs 
on  the  Eastern  Baltic,  on  the  West  it  was  a  question 
whether  they  or  the  Scandinavians  should  control  trade 
in  that  quarter,  and  especially  in  those  narrow  sea  pas- 
sages leading  round  Denmark  to  the  North  Sea. 

German  traders  and  fishermen  were  early  tempted  to 
the  shores  of  the  Baltic  as  well  as  to  the  North  Sea,  and  growth  of 

German 

German  towns  began  to  spring  up  on  other  lands  than  towns  and 
their  own.  Thus  Wisby  on  the  Island  of  Gothland,  thcments 
centre  of  the  northern  trade  and  a  great  seat  of  the 
fishing  industry,  although  under  Swedish  rule,  was  to 
all  intents  and  purposes  a  German  town  ;  Liibeck,  Stral- 
sund  and  Eostock  were  called  Wendish  towns,  but  were 
peopled  and  developed  by  German  merchants ;  and  there 
were  commercial  settlements  of  Germans  in  Norway,  in 
England  and  in  Flanders,  at  Bergen,  London  and  Bruges. 


232  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

In  early  days  no  trade  could  be  carried  on  safely  except 
by  associations,  and  men  were  accustomed  to  group 
themselves  together  for  all  sorts  of  purposes.  Thus 
within  the  towns  themselves  merchants  would  combine 
in  Kansas  or  Merchant  Guilds  which  obtained  control 
of  all  the  trade  of  that  town,  and  often  became  the  chief 
managers  of  its  municipal  government ;  while  on  foreign 
soil  these  traders  would  form  themselves  into  societies 
for  mutual  protection  and  mutual  benefit,  bands  of  fel- 
low-countrymen in  a  strange  land.  Merchants  in  those 
days  went  themselves  to  look  after  the  sale  of  their 
goods,  and  were  often  obliged  to  spend  long  periods  in 
other  countries,  where  they  might  be  at  a  considerable 
disadvantage  compared  with  the  native  inhabitants.  It 
was  this  which  rendered  the  foreign  hansas  so  very 
necessary.  They  used  to  combine  together  to  acquire 
what  were  called  "  factories,"  places  where  they  could 
live  and  also  store  their  goods.  Over  these  societies 
officials  would  be  placed,  responsible  for  order  and  justice, 
and  general  meetings  would  be  held  for  common  busi- 
ness and  for  making  trade  regulations.  In  England 
the  first  hansa  was  formed  in  London  by  merchants 
from  Cologne,  and  gradually  other  towns  were  allowed 
to  enter  and  enjoy  the  same  privileges.  At  first  Ham- 
burg and  Liibeck  established  hansas  of  their  own  at  Lynn 
on  the  East  Coast,  but  at  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury these  three  factories  combined  together  and  formed 
one  very  important  German  Guild  in  London,  the  Hansa 
Alamannia,  combined  of  these  traders  both  from  the 
Baltic  and  the  North  Seas.  Similar  establishments 
flourished  in  Bruges,  Bremen,  Novgorod  and  other 
places. 

A  close  connection  was  always  kept  up  between  these 


THE  SHORES  OF  THE  BALTIC  233 

foreign  settlements  and  the  home  towns,  for  merchants 
did  not  stay  permanently  abroad,  but  were  constantly 
going  and  coming :  and  eventually  the  Kansas  in  foreign 
lands,  and  the  large  towns  with  their  guilds  or  liansas 
at  home  formed  themselves  into  a  league  for  trading 
purposes  which  has  become  famous  in  history  as  the 
Hanseatic  League,  and  which  developed  into  a  great 
political  as  well  as  a  trading  power. 

This  League  did  not  appear  suddenly  at  a  single 
moment ;  it  was  formed  bit  by  bit  as  one  town  after 
another  was  induced  to  ally  with  the  rest,  until  at  last 
all  the  chief  cities  of  North  Germany  and  the  trading 
settlements  of  Germans  on  Baltic  shores  and  in  more 
distant  lands  were  members  of  this  vast  association  and 
acquired  the  name  of  Hanse  Towns. 

The  origin  of  this  union  probably  came  from  the  al-  L'lbeck 
liance  of  Lilbeck  and  Hamburg,  the  leading  town  on  burg 
the  Baltic  and  the  leading  town  on  the  North  Sea.  A 
glance  at  the  map  will  show  how  important  was  the  posi- 
tion occupied  by  these  two.  The  best  way  for  goods  to 
pass  from  one  sea  to  the  other,  was  either  round  the 
Danish  Peninsula  by  water  through  the  narrow  passage 
of  the  Sound,  or  if  the  Danes  hindered  this  passage,  by 
land  from  Ltibeck  to  Hamburg.  Thus  it  was  very 
necessary  for  these  places  to  be  in  touch  with  one  an- 
other, and  they  joined  for  mutual  protection  of  the  roads 
between  the  two.  Liibeck  had  already  made  herself  a 
great  power  in  the  Baltic,  where  other  towns  had  agreed 
to  adopt  her  code  of  trading  laws,  and  meetings  for 
common  purposes  were  held  from  time  to  time  within 
her  walls.  With  the  formation  of  the  one  liansa  in 
London  a  further  impulse  was  given  to  the  union  of 
German  traders  on  both  seas  and  the  league  grew  rapidly 


234  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

in  size  and  importance,  the  fourteenth  century  being 
the  period  when  it  was  most  numerous,  most  powerful 
Chief  mem- and  most  definitely  organised.  Cologne,  Liibeck  and 
League  *^^  Wisby  each  formed  the  centre  of  a  group  of  towns,  of 
which  some  of  the  chief  were  Bremen  on  the  Weser ; 
Hamburg  on  the  Elbe;  Wismar,  Eostock,  Stralsund 
and  Greifswald  on  the  Western  shore  of  the  Baltic; 
Elbing,  Danzig,  Thorn  and  Konigsberg  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  the  Vistula  and  Eiga  on  the  Dwina,  together 
with  the  important  foreign  depots  already  mentioned  in 
London,  Bergen,  Bruges  and  Novgorod. 

In  its  struggle  for  commercial  supremacy  the  chief 
danger  which  the  Hanseatic  League  had  to  face  was  the 
rivalry  of  Denmark ;  and  this  became  particularly  acute 
after  Waldemar  Atterdag  ascended  the  throne  in  1340. 
Scandi-  Through  all  the  early  portion  of  our  period,  the  three 

Sgdoms  Scandinavian  Kingdoms  of  Norway,  Sweden  and  Den- 
mark were  under  separate  monarchs.  The  Crown  in 
each  was  elective,  though  the  choice  was  generally  made 
from  amongst  the  nearest  heirs  of  the  reigning  family, 
and  there  was  a  good  deal  of  power  in  the  hands  of  the 
people  in  all  three  States.  Denmark,  on  the  whole,  had 
been  the- most  advanced  of  the  three,  and  above  all  she 
had  great  geographical  importance,  commanding  as  she 
did  the  water-way  from  the  Baltic  to  the  North  Sea, 
especially  when  Skaania,  the  southern  portion  of  the 
Swedish  Peninsula,  was  in  her  hands.  Before  the  reign 
of  Waldemar,  however,  Denmark  had  been  going  through 
a  period  of  decline  ;  the  nobles  had  rebelled  and  deprived 
the  Crown  of  almost  all  its  power,  and  Magnus  of  Sweden 
had  regained  the  Province  of  Skaania,  and  with  his  son 
Hakon  on  the  throne  of  Norway  threatened  to  become 
the  leading  power  in  the  North.     All  this  had  been  very 


THE  SHORES  OF  THE  BALTIC  235 

profitable  to  the  Hanse  Towns,  who  had  bought  vahi- 
able  fishing  rights  from  the  Danish  King,  and  who  were 
combining  for  the  defence  of  trade  routes  on  their  own 
account.  With  the  accession  of  Waldemar,  however, 
things  were  changed.     He  was  a  man  of  great  vigour,  WaWemar 

,  -,    •  1    i  •       i-  mi      III.  ofDeu- 

great  nnscrupulousness  and  n-on  determmation.  i  he  mark, 
name  "  Atterdag  "  was  given  to  him  because  he  was  so  ^ 
fond  of  saying :  "  I  Morgen  er  dat  Atterdag  "  ("  the  day 
will  return  to-morrow  "),  meaning  that  if  he  could  not  ac- 
compHsh  his  purpose  one  day  it  should  be  done  the  next ; 
and  his  people  complained  that  during  his  reign  no  one 
had  time  to  eat,  sleep  or  rest. 

At  first  the  towns  did  not  realise  the  danger  which 
threatened  them  from  Waldemar's  energetic  recon- 
quest  of  Danish  dominions,  not  even  when  he  won 
back  Skaania  from  Sweden ;  but  in  1361  they  had  a 
rude  awakening.  "  King  Waldemar  of  Denmark  col- 
lected a  great  army,  and  said  unto  them  that  he  would 
lead  them  whither  there  was  gold  and  silver  enough, 
and  where  the  pigs  eat  out  of  silver  troughs.  And  he 
led  them  to  Gothland,  and  made  many  knights  in  that 
land,  and  struck  down  many  people,  because  the  peasants 
were  unarmed  and  unused  to  warfare."  It  was  the 
rich  town  of  Wisby  which  had  excited  his  envy ; 
he  is  said  to  have  gone  in  disguise  to  the  place  and  won 
the  love  of  a  goldsmith's  daughter,  who  revealed  to 
him  all  the  defences  of  the  city  and  all  the  treas- g,^j,)jj,j„  of 
ure  stores.  Whether  he  gained  his  knowledge  by  such^isby, 
means  or  no,  he  certainly  sacked  and  plundered  the 
town  and  sailed  away  laden  with  booty.  Little  good  did 
he  get,  however,  from  his  spoils,  since  they  were  all  sunk 
in  mid-ocean,  in  a  storm  which  nearly  cost  him  his  own 
life.     This  high-handed  action  raised  up  an  unexpected 


236  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

War  be-  enemy  ;  for  not  only  did  Sweden  and  Norway  take  up 
nmrifa^d^^^"^^'  ^^*  ^^^  Hanse  Towns  combined  in  their  first 
the  Han-    alliance  for  warlike  purposes  and  raised  a  fleet  to  fall 

seatic  ^      -L 

Leagiie  upon  the  treacherous  Dane.  Wittenborg,  the  Burgo- 
master of  Liibeck,  commanded  the  ships  of  the  League, 
and  when  after  some  brilliant  successes  he  sustained  a 
serious  defeat,  his  town  flung  him  into  a  prison  from 
which  he  was  only  brought  for  public  execution  ;  his  head 
was  cut  off  in  the  market-place  of  Liibeck,  for  failure  was 
sternly  punished  in  those  days.  The  first  Danish  war 
was  ended  by  a  peace  which  granted  freedom  of  com- 
merce through  the  Sound  and  fishing  rights  to  the  Hanse- 
atic  League  ;  but  Waldemar  did  not  keep  his  promises 
and  the  towns  once  more  combined  in  defence  of  their 
privileges.  In  1367  a  large  meeting  was  held  in  the 
Town  Hall  or  Hansa  Boom  of  Cologne,  and  seventy- 
seven  towns  proclaimed  "  because  of  the  wrongs  and 
injuries  done  by  the  King  of  Denmark  to  the  common 
German  merchant,  the  cities  will  be  his  enemies  and 
help  one  another  faithfully".  Waldemar  despised  his 
enemies  and  answered  by  a  letter  in  rhyme  little  cal- 
culated to  sooth  their  feelings;  one  verse  runs: — 

If  seventy-seven  ganders 

Come  cackling,  come  cackling  at  me  ; 

If  seventy-seven  Hansers 

Come  crowing,  come  crowing  at  me  ; 

Do  you  think  I  care  two  stivers  ? 

Not  I  I  I  care  not  two  stivers. 

The  war   which   followed  resulted  in    the  complete 

Treaty  of    triumph  of  the  League,  and  the  Treaty  of  Stralsund, 

1370^^"""^'  which  ended  it,  marks  the  high- water  mark  of  Hanseatic 

power,  and  established  the  towns  as  a  real  political  force 

in  the  North.     Not  only  were  trading  rights  granted, 


THE  SHOKES  OF  THE  BALTIC  237 

but  all  the  strongholds  of  Skaania  were  put  into  the 
hands  of  the  League,  which  could  thus  command  the 
passage  of  the  Sound  and  control  the  fisheries.  Finally 
no  King  was  in  future  to  ascend  the  Danish  throne  ex- 
cept with  the  consent  of  the  towns  whose  privileges  he 
was  to  confirm. 

Meanwhile  Waldemar  had  been  more  successful  in 
his  relations  with  Sweden.  Her  King  Magnus  was  a 
very  feeble  character,  and  Waldemar  married  his 
daughter  Margaret  to  Hakon  of  Norway,  the  son  of 
Magnus,  thus  opening  a  way  to  great  future  possibilities. 

In  1375  on  the  death  of  Waldemar,  the  Danes  with  oiaf,  King 
the  consent  of  the  Hanseatic  League  chose  Olaf ,  a  little  mark, 
boy  of  five  years  old,  son  of  his  daughter  Margaret,  as  ^^'^^-^'^ 
their  King,  and  in  1380  the  death  of  Hakon  put  him  on 
the  throne  of  Norway  also,  whilst  his  mother  was  real 
ruler  of  both  Kingdoms.     Margaret  was  a  woman  of 
great  character  and  ability,  and  so  successful  was  her 
rule  as  Eegent  that  when  her  young  son  died  in  1387,  Margaret, 
Denmark  and  Norway  both  chose  her  as  their  Sovereign.  Denmark 
Sweden   was    not    long    in    following    their   example.  ^^^  ^j°^' 
Magnus  had  made  himself  so  unpopular  that  in  13631412, 
the  Swedish  nobles  had  revolted  and  oifered  the  Crown 
to  his  nephew  Albert  of   Mecklenberg,  who  had   im- 
prisoned his  rival  and  put  himself  in  his  place.     The 
new  ruler  was  not,  in  the  end,  more  satisfactory  than  the 
old,  and  a  party  of  his  discontented  subjects  now  turned 
for  help  to  Margaret  of  Denmark  and  Norway.    Nothing 
was  better  suited  to  the  wishes  of  the  ambitious  Queen. 
She  sent  an  army  which  completely  defeated  the  German  aud  of 
troops  of  King  Albert,  and  imprisoning  her  rival,  Mar-  1389-I4i2 
garet  undertook  the  rule  of  the  Swedish  Kingdom,  and 
was  as  successful  there  as  in  her  other  dominions. 


238  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

Union  of  In  1397  an  agreement  known  as  the  Union  of  Kalmar 
1397  '  was  drawn  up  by  the  Councils  of  the  three  Scandinavian 
Kingdoms,  by  which  it  was  decreed  that  they  should 
always  be  united  under  the  same  ruler,  although  each 
State  should  keep  its  old  laws  and  constitutions  un- 
changed. Margaret  had  adopted  Eric  of  Pomerania  her 
nephew  as  heir  in  her  three  dominions,  and  it  was  also 
laid  down  that  successors  should  always  be  elected  from 
amongst  his  descendants. 

This  Scandinavian  Union  might  have  been  a  consider- 
able danger  to  the  Hanseatic  League,  but  as  a  matter 
of  fact  it  was  not  very  durable.  Margaret  ruled  ably 
and  firmly,  but  Eric  was  but  a  feeble  successor.  Denmark 
and  Norway  remained  united  until  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury, but  the  Swedes  began  very  soon  to  rebel  against 
the  connection,  and  chose  rulers  of  their  own  even  be- 
fore our  period  is  over,  although  the  permanent  sever- 
ance was  not  effected  until  later. 

The  Hanse  Towns,  however,  had  other  dangers  to 

Gradual     facc,  and  were  past  the  height  of  their  power  by  the 

Hanseatic  fifteenth  century  :  their  decline  was  due  rather  to  dis- 

League       scnsions    within    than    to    enemies    without.     Eivalry 

began  between  the  towns  on  the  North  Sea  and  the 

towns  on  the  Baltic,   and  despite  the  strong  position 

gained  by  the  latter  in  their  struggle  with  Denmark, 

they  were  no  longer  able  to  maintain  their  supremacy. 

This  was  not  entirely  their  own  fault,  but  partly  that  of 

the  herring.     For  some  mysterious  reason  the  shoals  of 

these  fish,  which  had  so  long  frequented  the  Baltic  and 

particularly  the  coast  of  Skaania,  removed  themselves 

almost  entirely  to  the  shores  of  Holland,  and  thus  helped 

to   found   the   importance   of   the    towns   of  the  Low 

Countries.     Amsterdam  it   has  been   said   "  was  built 


THE  SHORES  OF  THE  BALTIC  239 

upon  herrings  ".  What  was  begun  by  the  herring  was 
completed  by  geographical  discoveries ;  and  when  new 
trade  routes  were  opened  through  the  larger  oceans,  the 
Baltic  ceased  to  occupy  the  position  of  importance  which 
had  been  hers  in  the  Middle  Ages. 

ADDITIONAL  BOOKS 

Hill :  Margaret  of  Denmark. 

Zimmern  :  Hansa  Toions. 

Sienkowwiz  :  The  Knights  of  the  Cross ;  an  Historical  Romance. 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE  SPANISH  PENINSULA 

General  '  I  ^HE  period  1273-1453  is  not  one  of  particular  in- 
of  Spanish  -^  tcrest  in  the  history  of  the  Spanish  Peninsula. 
'^  ^^  It  follows  an  important  time  of  progress  in  the  early 
thirteenth  century,  when  the  Moors  were  driven  back 
farther  and  farther,  until  the  small  Kingdom  of  Gran- 
ada alone  remained  to  them,  whilst  the  Christian  States 
were  growing  in  power  with  this  extension  of  territory. 
It  is  not  until  after  1453  that  the  marriage  of  Ferdi- 
nand and  Isabella  formed  a  united  Kingdom  of  Spain 
by  the  junction  of  Castile  and  Aragon,  and  that  the 
Moors  were  finally  driven  from  their  last  stronghold  in 
the  Peninsula, 
of's^^^'ish  ^^^  history  of  Spain,  therefore,  during  this  period 
Peninsula  is  merely  an  account  of  the  separate  States  of  which 
the  country  was  composed,  and  of  their  relations  with 
one  another  and  with  foreign  Powers ;  it  is  impossible 
to  treat  it  as  a  whole.  The  Spanish  Peninsula  in  the 
latter  half  of  the  thirteenth  century  was  divided  into 
Portugal,  the  Christian  Kingdoms  of  Castile,  Aragon 
and  Navarre,  and  the  Moorish  Province  of  Granada, 
which  was  little  by  little  being  reduced  in  size  by  the 
encroachments  of  the  Christians.  Castile  was  a  very 
large  and  important  Kingdom,  including  Gallicia,  the 
Asturias,  Murcia,  and  a  great  part  of  Andalusia  and  Leon, 

240 


THE  SPANISH  PENINSULA 


241 


which  had  been  united  in  1230  by  agreement  for  the 
pubhc  good.  Aragon  and  Catalonia  had  been  joined  by 
marriage  alHance  in  the  twelfth  century;  an  event  of 
great  importance  for  the  former,  as  she  gained  in  Barce- 
lona by  far  the  best  sea-port  in  Spain,  inhabited  by  the 
most  industrious  and  most  enterprising  population  of 
the  Peninsula.     Navarre  was  a  small  mountain  Kingdom, 


SPAIN  &  PORTUGAL  XIV  CENTURY 


including  part  of  what  is  now  French  territory  on  the 
North  of  the  Pyrenees ;  and  its  history  connects  it,  on 
the  whole,  rather  more  closely  with  France  than  with 
Spain, 

The   previous  history  of    Spain  had  been  one  long  Social  con- 

•  1  i!    J.1        T\/r      1  dition 

continuous  crusade  agamst  the  power  ot  the  Moslem, 
16 


242  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

with  the  result  that  her  nobles  were  all  warriors  pure 

and   simple ;  they   had   never   become   manorial   lords 

such  as  were  found  in  other  feudal  countries,  rulers  of 

agricultural  estates  in  which  they  were  supreme  over 

their  vassals  and  heads  of  justice  throughout  their  land. 

Constant  war  at  home  had  also  prevented  them  from 

seeking  occupation  in  the  East,  and  thus  deprived  the 

country  of  that  wider  outlook  and  the  impulse  towards 

commerce,  art   and  learning   which    had   been  spread 

through   Europe   by   the   great    Crusading   movement. 

Thus  Spain  had  advanced  on  her  own  lines.     She  was 

never  really  feudal  as  was  most  of  the  Continent,  her 

aristocracy  was  military  but  not  territorial,  free  towns 

with  independent  populations  sprang  up  sooner  than  in 

any  other  country,  and  the  Kingdoms  of  Aragon  and 

Castile  early  enjoyed  the  benefits  of  a  representative 

government,    which   developed    from   the   old   popular 

Councils  of  the  Visigoths. 

Constitu-        The  government  of  Castile  was  a  limited  monarchy, 

Castile       the  sovcreigu  being  hereditary  from  the  eleventh  century, 

although  always  receiving  formal  recognition  from  the 

Cortes  or  national  parliament.     This  Cortes  differed  much 

in  composition  at  different  times,  but  it  contained,  as  a 

rule,  nobles,  clergy  and  representatives  from  the  towns, 

and  it  exercised  control  over  taxation,  the  necessity  for 

its  consent  being  fully  recognised.     Over  legislation  also 

it  had  influence ;  sanction  was  required  for  any  royal 

enactment  and  the  King  had  to  swear  to  obey  what  it 

decreed.     It  seems  to  have  been  consulted  on  an}^  matter 

of  importance  and  it  was  the  honourable,  if  somewhat 

formal  duty  of  the  Cortes,  to  acknowledge  the  succession 

of  the  heir-apparent.     Besides  this  Assembly,  there  was 

a  smaller  Council  to  aid  the  King  in  executive  business  : 


THE  SPANISH  PENINSULA  '243 

this  was  a  body,  for  the  most  part  composed  of  hereditary 
nobles,  though  sometimes  additional  members  were 
received  chosen  by  the  Cortes  from  amongst  its  own 
members.  Justice  was  in  the  hands  of  the  town  judges 
or  Alcaldes,  but  the  Kings  in  the  thirteenth  century 
added  officials  of  their  own  called  Corrcgidores,  and  there 
was  appeal  from  either  of  these  bodies,  first  to  the 
Governors  of  the  Provinces,  then  to  a  Tribunal  of  Boyal 
Alcaldes.  In  many  ways  this  constitution  much  re- 
sembled that  of  England ;  only  that  there  was  no  trial 
by  jury,  and  no  county  representation  such  as  was 
supplied  by  our  Knights  of  the  Shire. 

Aragon  had  even  a  more  liberal  constitution  than  Constitu- 
that  of  Castile,  although  at  the  same  tnne  it  was  moregon 
aristocratic.  Here  the  Cortes  consisted  of  four  estates ; 
Prelates,  Barons,  or  Bicoshomhres  as  they  were  called 
(men  of  the  State,  not  rich  men),  Knights  or  Infanzones, 
and  the  deputies  of  the  towns.  An  important  office  in 
this  State  was  that  of  Justiza,  a  minister  responsible  for 
the  observance  of  the  laws  and  the  supervision  of  justice, 
which  was  very  well  administered.  This  good  manage- 
ment of  justice  was  especially  secured  by  two  rights 
peculiar  to  the  government  of  Aragon.  By  a  process 
known  as  jurisfirma,  causes  could  be  called  up  from  any 
court  in  the  realm  to  the  supreme  court  of  the  Justiza. 
Another  process  known  as  manifestation  was  something 
hke  our  own  writ  of  Habeas  Corpus  ;  by  it  a  man  could 
be  saved  from  any  illegal  violence,  could  be  taken  from 
the  hands  of  royal  officers,  and  his  trial  could  be  has- 
tened. In  1283  a  document  known  as  the  General  Pri- 
vilege, which  has  been  called  the  Magna  Carta  of  Aragon, 
contained  a  whole  series  of  important  provisions  for  the 
safeguard  of  order,  justice  and  good  government.     Arbi- 


244  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

trary  taxation,  secret  tribunals  and  private  sentences 
were  forbidden,  the  use  of  torture  was  prohibited,  and 
the  control  of  the  Cortes  over  the  whole  administration 
was  affirmed  and  strengthened.  One  great  feature  of 
Aragon  was  the  very  close  union  between  nobles  and 
people  and  the  enthusiasm  for  liberty  which  both  dis- 
played ;  the  aristocracy  formed  a  real  check  on  the 
arbitrary  power  of  the  King,  and  according  to  a  Spanish 
writer :  "  fought  at  all  times  not  for  power,  but  for 
popular  liberty  ". 
History  of  In  1273  Castilc  was  in  the  hands  of  Alfonso  X.,  or 
(jasti  e  ^^^  Wise,  a  rival  of  Richard  of  Cornwall  for  the  Im- 
AifousoX.,  perial  dignity,  though  he  never  possessed  more  than 
the  empty  title  :  it  was  his  sister  Eleanor  who  is  so 
well  known  as  the  devoted  and  dearly  beloved  wife  of 
our  King  Edward  I.  Alfonso  was  a  really  learned  man, 
if  not  a  successful  King.  Castile  at  this  period  was 
making  great  progress  in  civilisation  and  learning ;  St. 
Ferdinand,  the  previous  King,  had  done  much  for  his 
country  and  brought  her  much-needed  peace  :  while 
from  his  time,  "  Moors  in  Castile  became  as  scarce  as 
foxes  in  Middlesex  ".  Amongst  the  men  of  the  day, 
none  was  more  advanced  or  better  educated  than  the 
King  himself.  He  was  a  very  many-sided  genius,  and 
his  studies  comprised  both  science  and  letters.  A 
mathematician  and  an  astronomer,  he  was  also  a  poet,  a 
musician  and  a  linguist,  perhaps  above  all  a  legislator. 
In  astronomy  he  corrected  some  of  the  errors  in  the  old 
calculations  and  helped  to  explain  the  movements  of  the 
stars ;  ballads  he  wrote  of  some  merit  and  chronicles 
also ;  but  the  chief  work  of  his  life  was  the  Siete 
Partidas  (seven  divisions),  a  very  comprehensive  code 
of  law  compiled  from  the  Roman  and  Visigothic  rules, 


THE  SPANISH  PENINSULA  245 

from  the  old  local  customs  or  fueros,  and  from  the  de- 
crees of  various  great  Councils.  This  celebrated  work 
was  not  adopted  immediately  as  the  law  of  the  land,  but 
was  gradually  introduced  in  the  next  century  and  has 
remained  ever  since  one  of  the  most  interesting  ex- 
amples of  a  gi-eat  national  Legal  Code. 

So    much    for  the  wisdom  of  Alfonso ;  of  his  reign 
there  is  little  to  record ;  his  subjects  and  his  own  son  Sandio 

.  TV     1284- 

rebelled  against  him,  and  his  death  which  placed  Sanchogs" 
on  the  throne  in  1284,  left  Castile  a  prey  to  civil  war, 
disorder  and  lack  of  government.  Only  one  event  of 
interest  took  place  in  this  reign  in  the  conquest  of  Tarifa 
from  the  Moors.  This  was  the  work  of  a  famous  com- 
mander known  as  Guzman  the  Good.     After  the  city  Guzman 

.      .  .  .      ,       .  the  Good 

had  been  taken  by  the  Christians,  it  was  again  besieged  saves 
by  the  Moors,  assisted  by  Prince  John,  a  man  of  even 
worse  character  than  his  brother  Sancho.  During  the 
operations,  the  young  son  of  Guzman  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  besiegers,  and  John,  leading  him  before  the  walls 
of  the  town,  threatened  to  kill  him  on  the  spot  if  his 
father  did  not  surrender.  The  noble  Guzman  refused, 
and  with  proud  defiance  flung  down  his  own  knife  at 
the  foot  of  the  cruel  Prince,  who  slew  the  boy,  but 
failed  to  capture  the  town,  and  he  and  the  Moors  were 
forced  to  retire. 

Ferdinand  IV.,  successor  of  Sancho,  was  no  better  Ferdinami 
than  his  father.  Some  success  marked  the  early  years  1312 
of  his  reign  while  he  was  still  a  minor  ;  and  at  this  time 
was  formed  a  Confederacy  of  burgesses  known  as  the 
Hermandad  or  brotherhood,  which  was  an  attempt  to 
control  the  monarch,  curb  the  nobles  and  introduce  some 
order  into  the  administration.  This  Ferdinand  has  been 
surnamed  "  the  Summoned,"  on  account  of  a  tradition 


246 


THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 


Henry  of 
Trastaraare 
heads  ris- 
ing against 
Pedro 


that  his  brother,  whom  he  had  unjustly  condemned  to 
death,  summoned  him  to  appear  before  the  tribunal  of 
God,  and  that  within  thirty  days  he  died  suddenly  and 
without  apparent  cause. 

Alfonso  XI.  whose  reign  did  not  do  much  to  improve 
the  morals  or  remedy  the  disorders  of  the  kingdom,  is 
at  least  distinguished  for  a  great  victory  over  the  Moors 
at  the  Battle  of  Salado,  and  his  death  from  plague  came 
at  a  moment  when  he  was  winning  more  military  suc- 
cesses. His  son,  Pedro  the  Cruel,  is  the  only  one  of  this 
series  of  Kings  who  has  left  a  really  well-known  name 
behind  him,  and  his  fame  is  one  not  to  be  envied,  since 
it  is  based  almost  wholly  on  his  perfectly  superhuman 
wickedness  and  cruelty.  Perhaps  some  crimes  have 
been  laid  unjustly  to  his  charge,  but  this  does  not  absolve 
him  from  enough  to  blacken  any  reputation.  He  was 
married  to  three  wives  at  the  same  time ;  Blanche  of 
Bourbon  he  deserted  directly  after  the  ceremony  and 
eventually  murdered  ;  Jews  were  constantly  massacred 
in  cold  blood  before  his  eyes ;  his  half-brother  Don  Fa- 
drique  was  murdered  probably  by  his  own  hand,  whilst 
staying  at  his  own  palace  and  under  his  own  royal  safe- 
conduct.  It  is  useless  to  continue  the  enumeration  of  his 
odious  deeds,  which  would  fill  many  pages.  The  history 
of  the  revolt  against  him  led  by  his  half-brother  Henry 
of  Trastamare,  aided  by  French  support  and  the  Com- 
panies under  Guesclin,  has  been  told  in  the  chapter  on 
French  History.  The  Black  Prince,  unfortunately  for 
his  reputation,  was  induced  by  Pedro  to  support  him, 
replaced  him  on  the  throne  by  the  battle  of  Navaretta 
or  Najara,  and  went  home  to  die.  Pedro,  meanwhile, 
was  soon  involved  in  fresh  war  and  finally  lost  his  life 
in  a  hand-to-hand  struggle  with  Henry  himself,  to  whose 


THE  SPANISH  PENINSULA  247 

tent  he  had  come  on  a  mission  of  treachery.  He  had 
hoped  to  find  Du  GuescHn  alone  and  to  succeed  in  win- 
ning him  over  by  bribery,  but  found  instead  "  his  brother 
and  his  executioner  ". 

The  death  of  the  cruel  tyrant  was  welcomed  with  re-  Henry  il., 
joicing  by  the  whole  country,  and  Henry  of  Trastamare 
was  willingly  recognised  as  King.    His  title  was  disputed, 
however,  by  John  of  Gaunt,  the  son  of  our  Edward  III.,  Claims  of 
who  had  married  Constance  of  Castile,  a  daughter  ofGaunt° 
Pedro ;    but  his  attempts  were  unsuccessful,  although 
war  continued  after  Henry's  death  against  his  successor  John  i., 

.  1379-90 

John  I.  The  English  were  assisted  by  the  Portuguese, 
whose  King  Ferdinand  had  fought  for  his  own  claims 
against  Henry  of  Trastamare,  and  whose  son  John  of 
Portugal  was  now  married  to  a  daughter  of  John  of 
Gaunt. 

John  of  Gaunt  and  his  wife  took  the  title  of  King  and 
Queen  of  Castile,  but  in  the  end  their  claims  were  handed 
over  to  their  daughter  Katherine,  and  her  marriage  to 
the  Spanish  Prince  Henry  ended  the  quarrel. 

Henry  succeeded  his  father  when  only  eleven  years  Henry  in. 
old.  Despite  his  youth  the  reign  was  one  of  the  most 
peaceful  and  prosperous  Castile  had  enjoyed  for  a  long 
time.  Unfortunately  his  early  death  brought  a  renewal 
of  troubles  under  his  little  son  John,  who  was  only  two 
years  old  on  his  accession. 

The  reign  of  John  H.  was  most  prosperous  so  long  as  Jo^"  H., 
his  Uncle  Ferdinand  was  Regent.     After  he  came  of  age 
in  1419  it  is  simply  a  record  of  the  work  of  Alvaro  deAivarodo 

T 

Luna,  Constable  of  Spain,  the  most  celebrated  warrior 
of  the  time,  who  held  the  weak-minded  King  in  such 
subjection  that  he  is  said  to  have  not  even  ventured  to 
go  to  bed  without  his  permission.     Alvaro,  though  short 


248 


THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 


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THE  SPANISH  PENINSULA  249 

and  bald,  excelled  all  Spaniards  in  dancing,  horsemanship 
and  minstrelsy.  He  had  more  solid  qualities  also  as  a 
soldier  and  leader  of  men.  His  power  became  un- 
bounded and  his  magnificence  unequalled  :  he  was  not 
only  Constable  and  Grand  Master  of  the  military  order 
of  Santiago,  but  lord  of  at  least  seventy  towns  and 
castles  and  by  far  the  richest  man  in  Spain.  The 
favourite,  however,  was  more  famous  for  military  glory 
and  lordly  splendour  than  for  statesmanlike  qualities, 
and  when  in  1453  his  execution  was  forced  upon  the 
King  by  revolt  amongst  the  nobles,  encouraged  by  his 
own  wife  and  son,  he  left  the  Kingdom  in  a  weak  and 
disorderly  condition.  John  himself  died  the  year  after, 
and  is  only  worthy  of  remembrance  as  the  father  of 
that  Isabella  of  Castile  whose  marriage  with  Ferdinand 
of  Aragon  established  in  1479  a  united  Kingdom  of 
Spain,  a  Kingdom  which  was  raised,  under  their  joint 
rule,  to  a  position  of  real  importance  in  Europe. 

Aragon,  when  our  period  begins,  was  still  under  the  History  of 
rule  of  her  famous  King  James  the  Conqueror,  who  had      ° 
freed  his  country  from  the  Moors.     A  man  of  great  per-  James  i., 
sonal  strength,  courage  and  energy,  he    added   to  his 
prowess  on  the  field  some  knowledge  of   letters,  and 
wrote  his  own  chronicles  in  the  Catalan  dialect,  one  of 
the  chief  authorities  for  the  reign  that  we  possess.     His 
domestic  government  was  chiefly  occupied  in  putting 
down  resistance  with  a  heavy  hand,  and  his  private  fife 
was  marred  by  violence  and  licentiousness.     Yet  he  was 
a  strong,  capable  ruler,  and  a  man  who  commands  ad- 
miration by  his  vigour  and  force  of  character.     Just  be- 
fore his  death,  he  resigned  the  Crown  to  his  son  Pedro, 
and  joined  the  Cistercian  Order,  to  end  his  days  as  a 
monk  in  prayer  and  penitence  for  his  sins. 


250  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

Pedro  the       His  son  Pedro  in.  inherited  a  good  deal  of  his  father's 
1276-85      ability,  and  won   for   himself  the  title  of   the   Great. 
Since  the  Moors  were  conquered  in   his  territory,  the 
energy  of  the  new  King  turned  towards  foreign  parts. 
When  the  young  Conradin,  son  of  the  Emperor  Freder- 
ick 11.,  fighting  for  the  Sicilian  Crown,  had  been  seized 
and  executed  by  Charles  of  Anjou,  the  glove  which  he 
flung  down  as  a  gage  of  defiance  and  vengeance  was 
brought  to  the  Court  of  Aragon  ;  for  Pedro  had  married 
Claims  of    a  daughter  of  King   Manfred,  Constance  the  rightful 
fhe^King-    Quccn  of  Sicily.     The  suspicions  of  Charles  and  his  ally 
Siciiv^       the  Pope  were  aroused  by  the  warlike  preparations  the 
King  of  Aragon  was  making,  nominally  in  view  of  an 
approaching  crusade ;    when  questioned  on  the  matter 
the  King  kept  his  own  counsel.     "  If  I  thought  my  right 
hand  knew  my  secret,"  he  said,  "  I  would  cut  it  off  lest 
it  should  betray  it  to  my  left."     But  when  the  SiciHan 
Vespers  excited  the  people  of  the  island  to  rise  in  a  body 
against  their  French  rulers,  a  Spanish  fleet  was  con- 
veniently near  at  hand  to  take  their  part.     After   the 
victories  of  Koger  de  Loria,  a  famous  Aragonese  ad- 
Prociaimed  miral,    which   have  already  been  noticed  (chapter   ii.). 
King,  1282  Pedro  was  proclaimed  King  of  Sicily.     In  a  truly  medi- 
aeval spirit,  Charles  of   Anjou  summoned   his  rival   to 
Proposed    Bordeaux  to  settle  their  disputes  in  knightly  combat : 
Sie'it     *^^  challenge  was  accepted,  and  a  rather  curious  episode 
Bordeaux    followed.     Pedro   did  appear  at  Bordeaux  on  the  day 
named,  but  secretly  and   before  the  time,  for  he   sus- 
pected a  trap,  very  probably  with  truth.     In  any  case, 
he  rode  round  the  lists  to  save  his  honour  and  then,  dis- 
guised as  a  merchant,  escaped  back  to  his  native  country, 
leaving  his  disappointed  rival  to  proclaim  him  a  coward 
and  a  traitor,  and  to  turn  to  other  schemes  for  his  de- 


THE  SPANISH  PENINSULA  251 

straction.  Pedro  had  many  a  trouble  through  his  ac- 
ceptance of  the  Sicihan  Crown  ;  excommunicated  by  the 
Pope  and  attacked  by  Phihp  III.  of  France,  he  died, 
immediately  after  his  adversary,  from  wounds  and  a 
fever  contracted  in  the  war. 

After  the  death  of  Pedro  a  series  of  Kings  followed 
whose  reigns  have  left  but  little  permanent  trace  on  the 
history  of  Aragon.  One  of  them,  James  II.,  conquered 
Sardinia  from  the  Genoese,  whilst  his  brother  Frederick 
successfully  established  his  claims  to  the  Kingdom  of 
Sicily.  For  the  most  part  each  sovereign  spent  a 
troublous  career  fighting  with  his  own  turbulent  nobles, 
who  were  ambitious  of  extending  their  influence  over 
the  whole  conduct  of  government. 

At  the  close  of  the  fourteenth  century  there  was  a 
period  of  disputed  succession,  the  troubles  of  which  were 
encouraged  by  Pope  Boniface  IX.,  who  was  at  enmity 
with  the  Spanish  Kingdoms  on  account  of  their  support 
of  his  rival  Benedict  XIII,  himself  a  Spaniard.     King  Martin  i., 
Martin,  who  was  recognised  by  most  of  the  people,  is  im- 
portant as   uniting   the  Kingdom  of    Sicily  to  that  ofsidiy 
Aragon.     He  had  much  trouble  with  this  new  posses- Aragon!" 
sion,  and  also  from  revolts  in  Sardinia,  stirred  up  against  ^^^^ 
him  by  Papal  intrigue.     On  his  death,  fresh  succession 
disputes  broke  out,  six  rival  candidates  entering  into 
competition  for  the  vacant  throne. 

At  so  critical  a  time  the  strength  of  the  Constitution  Dispixted 
was  strikingly  displayed.     Government  was  continued  ^^'^^^^^j^" 
by  the  Justiza  and  the  Parhament,  as  the  Cortes  was  1410 
called.     The  situation,  however,  was  becoming  danger- 
ous and  civil  war  threatened,  until  a  Council  was  as- 
sembled containing  representatives  from  the  three  great 
Provinces  of  which  the  Kingdom  was  composed,  Valen- 


252  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

cia,  Catalonia  and  Aragon,  for  the  purpose  of  considering 
the  different  claims.  After  an  orderly  and  careful  deli- 
beration, the  Council  held  a  solemn  meeting  begun  by 
service  in  the  church,  and  announced  their  decision  to 
the  assembled  crowd. 

Ferdinand  The  elected  monarch  was  Ferdinand  of  Castile,  a 
nephew  of  the  late  King  Martin,  and  a  man  who  had  al- 
ready given  proof  of  the  greatest  wisdom  and  modera- 
tion as  Eegent  of  Castile  during  the  minority  of  the 
feeble  John  II.  (see  p.  247).  During  his  short  reign  he 
worked  for  his  country  with  a  zeal  and  unselfishness 
which  did  much  to  solve  some  of  the  worst  difficulties 
of  the  time,  and  won  for  himself  the  title  of  the  Honest 
or  the  Just.  Troubles  in  Sicily  and  Sardinia  were 
quieted,  and  marriages  were  made  which  connected  Ara- 
gon with  Castile  and  Navarre.     When  Ferdinand's  early 

Alfonso  V. ,  death  placed  his  son  Alfonso  V.  on  the  throne,  there 
was  little  trouble  to  fear  m  his  Spanish  dominions.  Al- 
fonso, therefore,  turned  his  attention  to  Italy,  where  he 
inherited  Sicily  and  Sardinia,  and  had  hopes  of  succes- 
sion in  Naples  also.  His  connection  with  this  country 
arose  from  the  action  of   Queen  Joanna,  who  had  no 

Claims  on  heirs  of  her  own  and  offered  to  adopt  him  as  her  son 
and  to  confer  on  him  the  right  of  succeeding  her  on  the 
throne.  This  offer,  gladly  accepted,  was  later  recalled 
by  the  changeable  Queen,  who  adopted  instead  Louis 
III.  of  Anjou,  with  the  result  that  a  bitter  struggle  en- 
sued between  the  two.  When  Joanna  died  in  1435, 
Alfonso  claimed  the  vacant  throne,  which  was  now  dis- 
puted by  Rene  of  Provence,  known  to  us  as  the  father 
of  Margaret  of  Anjou,  a  younger  brother  of  Louis  who 
had  died  just  before  his  adopted  mother.  Eventually 
the  King  of  Aragon  was  successful,  and  ruled  for  the 


1416-58 


Naples 


THE  SPANISH  PENINSULA  253 

rest  of   his  life  as  Alfonso  the  Magnanimous,  King  of  Aitbuso  be. 

C01T16S 

Aragon  and  the  two  Sicilies.     His  name  is  better  known  King  of 
in  the  history  of  Italy  than  in  that  of  Spain  (see  p.  185).  ^42^^^' 

The  history  of  Navarre  during  this  period  is  scarcely  History  of 
worth  following  in  detail ;  but  it  may  be  well  to  re-  ^^^'^""^ 
member  that  Philip  the  Fair  united  the  little  Kingdom 
to  France  by  his  marriage  with  Queen  Joan  in  1274 ;  United  to 
that  in  1328,  when   Philip   VI.   succeeded  in   France,  1274-T328 
Navarre  was  once  more  ruled  as  a  separate  Kingdom 
under  another  Joan,  mother  of  the  well-known  Charles 
the  Bad  ;  and  that  connection  with  Aragon  was  estab- 
lished by  the  marriage  of  Queen  Blanche  of  Navarre  toAragouand 
John,  brother  of  Alfonso  V.  and  ultimately  his  successor. 
The   troubles  which   resulted,    however,  and   the  war 
between  John  and  his  son  Charles  extend  beyond  the 
limits  of  our  period  ;  and  it  was  not  until  much  later 
still  that  the  little  Kingdom  lost  its  separate  existence, 
the  southern  part  being  seized  by  Ferdinand  of  Castile, 
while  the  northern  was  in  the  sixteenth  century  united 
to  France  by  the  succession  of  Henry  IV.  of  Navarre. 

The  turbulent  history  of  these  Christian  Kingdoms 
during  the  present  period  may  be  wanting  in  interest 
and  unity,  but  it  introduces  us  to  some  of  the  actors  in 
the  European  drama.  It  is  specially  connected  with  the 
history  of  Sicily,  where  the  dynasty  of  Aragon  made 
good  its  claim ;  with  France,  owing  to  quarrels  with 
the  House  of  Anjou,  and  with  the  French  help  given  to 
Henry  of  Trastamare  ;  and  with  England,  whose  loss  of 
Gascony  in  the  fourteenth  century  largely  resulted  from 
the  disastrous  alHance  between  Pedro  and  the  Black 
Prince,  and  with  whom  war  was  caused  by  the  claims 
of  John  of  Gaunt  to  the  Castihan  succession.  Every 
century  also  was  bringing  a  step  nearer  the  ultimate 


254  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

union  of  Spain  and  her  period  of  greatness,  when  she 
was  to  take  up  a  position  of  the  utmost  importance  both 
in  Europe  and  in  the  New  World. 
Portugal         The  neighbouring   Kingdom   of   Portugal  had  been 
strugghng  into  a  nation,  partly  by  reason  of  its  long 
National     wars  with  the  Moors,  partly  by  its  resistance  to  Castile 
ment         which  was  never  strong  enough  to  absorb  it.     In  the 
fifteenth  century  the  Portuguese  led  the  way  in  the  new 
development  of  maritime  enterprise  and  discovery.     This 
Maritime    was  largely  due  to  Prince  Henry  the  Navigator,  son  of 
impor  nee  j^^^  j  ^^  Portugal,  and  grandson  of  our  own  John  of 
Gaunt.     He  was  determined  to  find  a  new  route  to  India 
round  the  continent  of  Africa,  and  fitted  out  repeated 
expeditions,  which  explored  the  African  coast  and  made 
many   important    discoveries,    amongst    others    of    the 
Islands  of  Madeira,  the  Canaries  and  the  Azores.     The 
Cape  of  Good  Hope  was  not  rounded  during  the  life- 
time of  the  enterprising  Prince,  but  it  was  a  Portuguese 
seaman  who  first  succeeded  in  the  attempt  towards  the 
close  of  the  century,  and  opened  out  the  new  route  to 
India.     The  great  epoch  of  discovery,  with  all  its  far- 
reaching  results,  lies  beyond  our  present  period  ;  but 
before  1453  Portugal  was  already  pointing  out  a  new 
road  to  fame  and  wealth. 

ADDITIONAL  BOOKS 

Watts  :  Spain  ("  Story  of  the  Nations  "). 

Charlotte  M.  Yonge :  Chiistians  and  Moors  in  Spain. 


I 


CHAPTEE  XIII 

THE  GREEK  EMPIRE  AND  THE  OTTOMAN   TURKS 

N  the  year  1261  Baldwin,  the  last   of  those   Latin  Restora- 
Emperors  who  had  established  themselves  in  Con-  Q^Lk  Em- 
stantinople  at  the  time  of  the  Fourth  Crusade,  was  ex-  p^'^^'  ^^^^ 
pelled,  and  the  Greek  Empire  was  revived  in  the  hands 
of  the  family  of  Palaeologus  :  a  family  which  was  to 
occupy  the  throne  of  the  East  until  Constantinople  fell 
before  the  Turks. 

The  Empire,  though  restored,  never  regained  its  old  Weakness 
strength  ;  it  was  shorn  of  territory  and  surrounded  by  Eastern 
enemies,  while  the  interlude  of  Latin  rule  had  thrown  ^'^p^^^^ 
the  whole  administrative  machinery  hopelessly  out  of 
gear.      The  hostility   between  the  Greek  or  Orthodox  Disunion 
Church,  as  it  was  also  called,  and  that  of  Rome  was  churches 
rendered   more   bitter  than   ever.     The   differences   in  °y^^^* '^'"^ 
actual  belief  were  not  great.     The  Latin  Church  had 
added  certain  words  to  the  Nicene  Creed  which  the  Greek 
had  never  adopted,  and  over  which  fierce  controversy 
raged  ;  the  doctrine  of  purgatory  also  was  rather  differ- 
ently regarded,  and  there  were  certain  ceremonial  dis- 
putes, but  the  really  inseparable  barrier  was  the  reluctance 
of  Eastern  Emperor  and  Patriarch  to  recognise  the  su- 
premacy of  the  Pope ;  and  now  since  the  conquest  of 
Constantinople  by  the  Latins  there  was  an  additional 
feeling  that  union  was  equivalent  to  bondage  and  shame- 

255 


256 


THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 


ful  subjection.  At  various  times  during  our  period 
attempts  were  made  to  heal  the  breach,  but  without  any 
permanent  result ;  the  Emperor  might  promise  one  thing, 
but  the  Greeks  would  refuse  absolutely  to  carry  out  the 
agreement.  The  most  notable  instances  of  this  have  al- 
ready been  mentioned  in  previous  chapters,  the  arrange- 


ADVANCE  OF  THE  OTTOMAN  TURKS 


^v^«*;.i^5.°-t---'^-'      Principahty    of  Oman   1221 

Acquisitions    under 

Othman  /28I-I326^S         Orchan  1326- 1360     KS    Amurath  I  1360-1389     [S3 
Bajazet  1389-1402  ^        AmuratbH  /42/-/450^   f^ahomet  U  1450-1481     mUD 


ment  with  Gregory  X.  at  the  Council  of  Lyons,  and  the 
definite  terms  of  union  drawn  up  and  signed  at  Florence 
between  Eugenius  and  the  Greek  Emperor,  John  VI. 
Even  this  remained  a  dead  letter,  owing  to  the  hostility 
of  the  whole  people,  and  this  constant  antagonism  pre- 


THE  GREEK  EMPIRE  AND  OTTOMAN  TURKS        257 

vented  Western  Europe  from  making  any  organised  effort 
to  aid  their  fellow-Christians  in  the  East  against  the  in- 
roads of  the  unbelievers.    Other  difficulties  hastened  the  Numerous 
decline  of  the  Eastern  Empire.     Her  once  wide-spread  ^°^™^^^ 
dominions   were  getting   more  and  more  over-run   by 
hostile  neighbours,  (see  map),  and  war  on  the  borders 
was  almost  incessant ;  for  some  time  also  the  descendants 
of  the  Latin  Emperor  tried  to  reassert  their  claims,  and 
danger  threatened  from  powerful  European  Princes,  such 
as  Charles  I.  of  Anjou,  and  Charles  of  Valois,  who  were 
connected  by  marriage  with  the  exiled  house.     To  meet 
these  pressing  dangers  the  Emperors  called  in  a  force  to  Catalan 
their  aid,  which  was  to  end  by  proving  a  more  fertile  company 
source  of   troubles   than   the   distant   foes.     After  the 
Sicilian  war  was  over,  a  number  of  mercenary  soldiers, 
Spaniards  of  all  sorts,  under  a  soldier  of  fortune  called 
Roger  de  Flor,  were  only  too  glad  to  seek  occupation  in 
the  pay  of  the  Greeks,  and  were  known  as  the  Catalan 
Grand  Company.     Such  were  the  outrages  and  cruelties 
practised  by  these  wild  troops  on  the  Emperor's  subjects, 
that  friendships  soon  turned  to  enmity,  and  open  war  Catalan 
broke  out  between  Greeks  and  Spaniards,  which  only  i,-,^''  ^^^^'' 
ended  when  in  1315  the  Grand  Company  withdrew  to 
fresh  fields  of  bloodshed.     It  was  during  this  Catalan 
War  that  the  worst  foe  of  the  Greeks  for  the  first  time 
gained  an  entry  into  Europe.     Amidst  all  the  dangers 
which  threatened  the  Eastern  Empire,  far  the  most  for- 
midable was  the  advance  of  the  Turks.     A  steady  flood 
of  invasion  was  pouring  over  from  Central  Asia,  and  it 
was  chiefly  to  aid  in  checking  these  on-coming  hordes 
that  Eoger  de  Flor  was  invited  to  the  East.    When,  how-  ^^^^^  ^^ 
ever,  Spanish  arms  were  turned  against  their  allies  the  "^^^^^  i"to 
Company  did  not  hesitate  to  look  for  aid  to  the  Moslem.  1306-7 ' 
17 


258  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

A  band  of  Turks  crossed  the  Dardanelles  in  1306  to 
attack  the  Empire,  and  never  from  this  date  was  Em'ope 
entirely  free  from  the  presence  of  the  Turk. 
The  Turks  It  was  in  the  early  thirteenth  century  that  these  in- 
roads from  Central  Asia  began  in  real  earnest,  and  from 
that  time  onward  the  Turks  had  been  driving  out  or  de- 
stroying the  Christian  population  of  Asia  Minor.  The 
Turk  has  been  called  "a  nomad  and  a  destroyer,"  and 
settlement  meant  slaughter  or  extermination  of  all 
previous  inhabitants.  The  barbarians  came  in  over- 
whelming numbers :  they  required  plenty  of  room,  for 
they  were  a  pastoral  not  an  agricultural  people ;  above 
all  they  were  Mohammedans,  and  those  who  would  live 
with  them  must  adopt  their  faith  and  become  followers 
of  the  prophet.  The  Christians  who  could  not  resist, 
therefore,  fled  to  save  their  faith  as  well  as  their  lives, 
or  were  forced  to  become  tributary  subjects. 
Sultan  It  was  a  branch  of  these  tribes,  known  as  Ottoman 

1299-1307  Turks,  which  was  threatening  Europe  and  the  East. 
In  his  youth,  Othman,  first  Ottoman  Sultan,  dreamt  a 
dream.  He  had  been  suing  in  vain  for  the  hand  of  the 
beautiful  Malkhatoum,  and  in  his  dream  he  saw  rise 
from  the  body  of  this  lady,  first,  the  crescent  moon, 
and  then  a  magnificent  tree,  which  grew  to  an  immense 
size  and  spread  its  branches  over  seas  and  mountains, 
the  Caucasus,  Atlas  and  many  others ;  whilst  from  its 
roots  flowed  stately  rivers,  the  Nile,  the  Euphrates,  the 
Tigris,  on  which  vessels  of  all  sorts  sailed  out  to  foreign 
lands.  Then,  of  a  sudden,  he  saw  the  leaves  of  this 
tree,  changed  to  the  form  of  shining  sword  blades,  turn- 
ing towards  the  towns  below  them,  and  above  all  to- 
wards the  great  city  of  Constantinople  which,  lying 
between  two  seas,  shone  like  a  diamond  between  two 


THE  GREEK  EMPIRE  AND  OTTOMAN  TURKS        259 

emeralds,  and  formed  the  central  ornament  of  a  gigantic 
ring  encircling  the  earth.  On  the  morrow  he  told  his 
dream  and  won  the  hand  of  his  ladylove,  and  from  this 
union  sprang  the  dynasty  which  was  to  rule  over  the 
great  Ottoman  Empire,  and  was  to  press  forward,  little 
by  Httle,  to  the  brilliant  diamond  of  the  vision. 

Othman  has  been  called  the  founder  of  the  dynasty  :  Suitan 
his  son  Orchan  the  founder  of  the  Turkish  nation.  The  1326-57' 
latter  captured  Nicaea  and  other  important  places,  so 
that  his  state  was  firmly  established  in  the  heart  of  Asia 
Minor.  His  rule  is  chiefly  memorable,  however,  for  the  The  Janis- 
introduction  of  the  terrible  "  child  tribute,"  and  for  the""™' 
origin  of  the  famous  force  of  Janissaries,  which  helped 
to  render  the  Turkish  army  so  invincible.  Christians 
who  wished  to  purchase  security  and  the  exercise  of 
their  own  worship,  might  do  so  by  paying  tribute,  which 
Orchan  changed  into  a  contribution  of  children.  A 
Christian  village  was  forced  to  supply  every  year  a  cer- 
tain number  of  young  children,  who  were  brought  up 
as  Mohammedans,  trained  with  great  care  and  employed 
when  they  grew  up  either  in  the  army  or  in  the  civil  ad- 
ministration. In  the  army  the  services  of  these  Janis- 
saries (new  troops)  were  of  the  utmost  value.  From 
the  very  first  the  boys  were  educated  for  this  and  for 
nothing  else.  They  were  subjected  to  the  most  severe 
discipline ;  taught  to  do  with  little  food  and  sleep,  exer- 
cised in  riding  and  the  use  of  arms,  and  above  all  trained 
to  the  most  absolute  and  unquestioning  obedience  :  only 
in  actual  war  was  any  of  the  strictness  of  their  life  re- 
laxed, and  thus  fighting  was  looked  upon  as  their  holi- 
day time  and  the  ideal  of  existence.  Brought  up  in  this 
way,  with  never  a  thought  outside  their  regiment,  and 
with  certain  privileges  not  shared   by  the  rest   of  the 


260  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

army,  these  Janissaries  were  inspired  by  an  esprit  de  corps 
which  made   them  a  perfectly  unrivalled   force  in  the 
hands  of   the    Sultan.     Thus  was  the  "  victory  of  the 
Crescent  secured  by  the  children  of  the  Cross  ". 
Causes  of        The  Greek  Emperors  had  little  with  which  to  resist 

weakness      . ,  •     »  •  t    i  i  -T  -,     -,  i      i      t    •  ■      e 

of  the  this  lormidable  adversary;  and  they  looked  m  vam  tor 
agafnstthe  i^^al  help  from  the  AVest.  Meanwhile  Constantinople  it- 
Turks  ggj£  ^,g^g  g^  prey  to  constant  internal  troubles.  The  govern- 
ment was  weak,  a  mixture  of  despotism  and  oligarchy. 
The  ruler  was  in  theory  absolute,  but  his  power  was  ham- 
pered by  the  factious  opposition  of  the  nobles,  who  having 
no  real  position  in  the  administration  were  hostile  and  ir- 
responsible. His  subjects  were  composed  of  all  sorts  of 
nationahties  between  whom  little  real  unity  existed, 
and  this  was  particularly  obvious  in  the  army.  The 
Emperor  ruled  over  four  principal  races  in  the  Balkan 
Peninsula,  Albanians,  Slavs,  Greeks,  and  Wallachs,  to 
which  were  added  Catalans  left  behind  by  the  Grand 
Company,  and  a  large  number  of  Venetians  and  Genoese, 
who  were  engaged  in  trade  rivalries  in  the  Levant  and 
the  Black  Sea.  Venice  held  certain  States  in  the  Morea, 
besides  Corfu,  Crete  and  other  islands  which  she  had 
gained  in  the  fourth  Crusade,  whilst  Genoa  established 
herself  in  Asof  and  the  Crimea,  and  held  Pera  or  Galata, 
a  suburb  of  Constantinople  north  of  the  Golden  Horn. 
The  history  of  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries  is 
one  long  continuous  record  of  Greek  decline  and  Turkish 
progress. 
Crusade  of  In  1396  the  Christians  of  the  West  made  an  attempt 
to  come  to  the  aid  of  the  East.  A  crusading  force  was 
collected  under  Sigismund,  then  King  of  Hungary,  later 
elected  Emperor.  He  was  accompanied  by  John  of 
Burgundy,  then  only  Count  of  Nevers,  who  gained  in  this 


Sigismund 


THE  GREEK  EMPIRE  AND  OTTOMAN  TURKS        261 

expedition  his  surname  of  the  Fearless.     The  Turks  at 
this  time  were  under  a  leader  of  great  celebrity,  Bajazet  l^it-a-" 
Ilderim,  or  the  Thunderbolt,  so  called  from  the  speed  of  1389-1403 
his  movements ;  and  the  Christians  made  the  fatal  mis- 
take of  underestimating  their  enemy.    On  the  Danube  at  Battle  of 
Nicopolis  the  two   armies  met,  and  the  defeat   of  the  1396^'°  '^' 
Crusaders  was   complete   and    decisive.     The    French 
Knights,  brave  to  rashness  but  totally  undisciplined,  re- 
jected the  more  prudent  counsel  of  the  Hungarians,  and 
breaking  through  the  front   ranks  which  faced   them, 
charged  blindly  after  the  flying  foe,  only  to  find  that  the 
flight  was  feigned,  and  to  be  brought  to  a  stand  by  the 
archers  when  in  too  great  disorder  to  resist.    At  the  same 
moment  the  chosen  troop  of  Janissaries  burst  forth  from 
the  ambush  which  concealed  them,  and  routed  the  re- 
mainder of  the  army  with  tremendous  slaughter.    Sigis- 
mund  escaped  by  boat  and  only  reached  Constantinople 
and  safety  with  great  difficulty  ;  John  of  Burgundy  was 
captured  and  held  to  ransom  ;  300  prisoners,  who  refused 
to  renounce  their  faith,  were  massacred  in  cold  blood. 
Bajazet  seemed  invincible.     He  swore  to  press  on  west- 
ward until  he  could  feed  his  horse  on  the  altar  of  St. 
Peter  in  the  heart  of  Kome  itself.     Constantinople  was  Fir.st  Tmk- 
besieged    and    Christendom   trembled,    until   a   sudden  cJiistanti- 
diversion  was  created  by  a  new  horde  of  barbarians  and  ""p^*^ 
the  attackers  became  the  attacked. 

Whilst  Bajazet  had  been  winning  victories  over  the  Timour  the 
Christians,  Timour,  or  Tamerlane  the  Tartar,  heading 
a  vast  host  of  tribes  from  Eastern  Asia,  had  been  ravag- 
ing Persia  and  Turkestan,  had  conquered  Aleppo  from 
the  Sultan  of  Egypt  and  was  now  threatening  the 
territories  of  Bajazet  himself.  In  1402  he  sent  a  curt 
message  to  the  Ottoman  Sultan,  commanding  an  instant 


262  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

surrender  of  all  that  he  had  conquered  from  the  Greeks. 

Bajazet  sent  back  a  reply  couched  in  the  most  insulting 

language  possible,  and  then  hastened  in  person  to  meet 

his  haughty  rival,  leaving  Constantinople  rejoicing  in 

Battle  of    temporary  safety.     At  Angora  a  battle  was  fought  which 

28trjuiy,  lasted  through  a  whole  long   burning   July   day;  but 

^^^^  at  last  Bajazet  was  captured  and  his  army   defeated. 

Timour  dragged  his  illustrious  prisoner  with  him  from 

place  to  place,  until  in  the  following  year  death  freed  him 

from  disgrace,  and  after  two  more  years  of  victory  and 

bloodshed  his  Tartar   conqueror  followed  him  to  the 

grave. 

Europe  was  saved  for  the  time,  and  it  was  nearly  half 
a  century  before  danger  from  the  Turks  again  became 
really  acute.  It  was  their  renewed  attacks  which  led 
John  VI.  to  undertake  his  unpopular  journey  to  Italy 
in  search  of  union  and  support.  His  hope  of  a  combined 
effort  of  Europe  on  his  behalf  was,  as  we  have  already 
seen,  disappointed  ;  but  Christianity  produced  two  other 
champions  whose  efforts  shed  some  glory  on  the  dechn- 
ing  cause  of  the  Eastern  Empire. 
John  John  Hunyadi,  Governor  of  Transylvania,  called  the 

Hunyadi    ^j^i^g  Knight  of  Wallachia,  headed  Hungarian  resist- 
ance against  the  Turks  and  won  over  them  a  series  of 
victories  on  the  Danube.     After  the  Council  of  Florence, 
a  Christian  army  recruited  from  various  nations  put  it- 
self under  the  leadership  of  Hunyadi,  who  was  also  ac- 
companied by  Ladislgis,  the  King  of  Poland  and  Hun- 
gary, and  by  Cesarini  the  Cardinal  who  had  done  such 
Battle  of     good  work  at  the  Council  of  Basle.     This  force  marched 
iith^Nov   through  Bulgaria  and  captured  Varna,  where  they  were 
^^^"^  attacked  by  the  Turks  and  prepared  to  give  battle.     Here 

again  the  Christians  failed  from  overhaste  and  contempt 


THE  GEEEK  EMPIRE  AND  OTTOMAN  TUliKB        263 

of  the  enemy.  Hunyadi,  who  knew  well  the  Turks  and 
their  tactics,  had  strictly  enjoined  Ladislas  to  maintain 
his  position,  and  not  to  be  induced  to  advance  on  an 
attack.  His  advice  was  in  vain,  for  during  his  absence 
the  King,  brave  but  too  impulsive,  was  urged  by  some  _ 
of  his  followers  to  break  this  command,  lest  the  fame  of 
the  battle  should  belong  to  the  "  White  Knight  "alone. 
Hunyadi,  returning  from  a  successful  attack  on  his  own 
side,  hastened  to  the  rescue  of  Ladislas,  who  was  in  the 
thick  of  the  fight  and  struggling  with  the  famous 
Janissaries  themselves.  The  mistake  was  irremediable. 
The  King  himself  paid  for  it  with  his  life,  the  Christians 
were  forced  to  retire,  and  Cardinal  Cesarini  was  also  slain 
either  in  the  battle  or  the  retreat. 

Another  opponent  of  the  Turks  was  an  Albanian  Scandei- 
Priuce,  George  Castriot,  known  to  history  as  Scaiiderbey,  ^^^ 
a  contraction  of  Iskender  Bey  or  the  Lord  Alexander, 
a  title  given  to  him  by  the  Turks.  When  a  boy  he  had 
been  delivered  as  a  hostage  to  the  Sultan,  who  brought 
him  up  as  a  Moslem  and  treated  him  with  the  greatest 
favour  and  distinction.  Apparently  the  youth  retained 
in  secret  the  Christian  faith,  and  planned  to  escape 
on  the  earliest  opportunity.  His  method  of  doing  so 
was  marked  by  unscrupulousness  as  well  as  boldness. 
Whilst  actually  occupying  a  post  of  authority  in  the 
Turkish  army,  he  seized  the  occasion  of  confusion  after 
a  defeat,  to  force  the  Commander  at  the  point  of  the 
scimitar  to  sign  a  document,  handing  over  to  him  the 
command  of  a  Turkish  fortress  on  the  frontier  of  Albania. 
Armed  with  this  he  deceived  the  Turkish  Governor, 
took  possession,  and  admitted  a  force  of  Albanians  in  the 
night,  who  murdered  the  garrison.  Then  throwing  off 
the  mask,  he  put  himself  openly  at  the  head  of  revolt  in 


264  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

his  native  country.     The  rest  of  his  Hfe  was  spent  in 
rescuing   Albania    and    harassing   the   Turks,    but   his 
strength  was  not  sufficient  to  divert  the  Sultan  from  his 
one  great  object,  the  establishment  of  Mussulman  rule 
in  Christian  Constantinople. 
Last  Siege       The  final  siege  of  the  Greek  capital  was  begun  by 
thiopC""the  Sultan  Mahomet  II.  in  the  spring  of  1453;  Con- 
1*5^  stantine,  son  of  John  VI.,  was  the  last  Christian  Emperor 

of  the  East.  His  possessions  by  this  time  had  been  re- 
duced to  Constantinople  itself  with  a  strip  of  land  about 
100  miles  in  length  behind  it,  and  about  half  the  penin- 
sula of  the  Morea.  The  people  over  whom  he  ruled  were 
demoralised  by  a  long  period  of  losses  and  disaster,  and 
for  his  defence  he  was  largely  dependent  on  ships  and 
men  from  Genoa  and  Venice,  which  were  placed  under 
the  command  of  the  famous  Genoese  soldier  John 
Justiniani.  Both  sides  were  busy  all  through  the  winter 
of  1452  in  making  their  preparations. 
Topo-  The  city  of  Constantinople  formed  a  rough  triangle,  its 

Oxiistauti-  base  to  landward,  and  its  two  sides  bounded  by  the 
^°^^^  Golden  Horn  on  the  North,  and  the  Sea  of  Marmora  on 
the  South.  On  the  other  side  of  the  Golden  Horn  lay 
the  Genoese  settlement  of  Pera  or  Galata.  Walls  com- 
pletely surrounded  the  town,  while  across  the  mouth 
of  the  Golden  Horn  a  boom  guarded  the  harbour 
against  the  entrance  of  hostile  ships.  On  the  landward 
side,  the  chief  seat  of  danger,  the  walls  were  triple. 
The  inner  wall,  forty  feet  in  height,  had  higher  towers 
at  regular  distances  ;  below  that  at  an  interval  of  about 
fifty  feet  lay  the  second  wall,  similar  but  smaller,  and  in 
front  of  all  a  sort  of  breastwork  guarded  in  its  turn  by  a 
wide  ditch.  Several  gates  led  from  without  into  the 
city,  besides  which  there  were  smaller  military  gates, 


THE  GREEK  EMPIRE  AND  OTTOMAN  TURKS 


265 


leading  into  the  different  enclosures  between  the  walls 
to  allow  soldiers  to  pass  into  them.  The  defenders  were 
too  few  in  number  to  guard  all  these  three  outworks,  so 
it  was  decided  to  meet  the  enemy  at  the  second  wall, 
as  the   inner   wall   which  should  have  been  the  most 


SIEGE  OF  CONSTANTINTOPLE  1453 


Suit 
Tent 


Golden 
Gat 


l^.v^ociJUdvL^g.  ,0'i<v<i'<'* 


J  ENGLISH  MILES 


defensible  was  not  in  perfect  repair.  In  the  post 
of  greatest  danger  near  this  wall  were  stationed  the 
choicest  troops  under  Justiniani  himself  and  the  Em- 
peror Constantine;  while  the  admiral  with  his  fleet 
stayed  near  the  boom  across  the  harbour. 

The  Emperor's  forces  have   been  estimated  at  about 


266 


THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 


Naval  vie 
tory  for 
the  Chris- 
tians 


8,000;  Mahomet  had  at  least  150,000  with  which  to 
invest  the  city,  and  he  had  collected  all  the  Turkish 
vessels  from  the  surrounding  seas,  sailing  ships  and 
long  boats  rowed  by  forty  or  fifty  oarsmen,  which  he 
hoped  to  find  even  more  useful  than  his  land  forces. 
All  along  the  landward  wall  the  mass  of  the  Turkish 
troops  were  stationed.  Before  them  they  constructed 
a  trench  and  palisade,  that  they  might  be  protected 
whilst  firing  on  the  besieged ;  a  further  force  was 
situated  behind  Galata,  on  the  North  of  the  Golden 
Horn.  The  chief  feature  of  Mahomet's  army  was  un- 
doubtedly the  cannon,  which  were  to  prove  the  in- 
sufficiency of  mediaeval  walls  to  meet  new-fashioned 
methods  of  attack.  These  huge  guns,  however,  were  still 
of  a  very  unwieldy  nature  :  they  were  not  on  wheels,  but 
had  to  be  embedded  in  the  ground  and  fired  always 
in  the  same  direction ;  they  threw  huge  stone  balls 
which  did  enormous  damage,  but  as  a  rule  could  not  be 
fired  more  than  seven  times  a  day.  One  monster  cannon 
took  sixty  oxen  to  drag  it,  and  200  men  to  march  be- 
side to  keep  it  in  place ;  whilst  labourers  had  to  go  on 
before  to  prepare  the  roads  for  its  passing  and  to 
strengthen  the  bridges  !  From  a  mihtary  point  of  view, 
the  siege  of  Constantinople  marks  an  interesting  transi- 
tion between  the  old  and  the  new  methods  ;  for  weapons 
of  every  kind  were  employed,  both  ancient  and  modern  ; 
not  only  gunpowder  and  cannon,  but  long  bows,  wooden 
shields,  lances  and  catapults. 

The  first  attempts  made  by  the  Turks  to  assault  the 
city  and  force  the  boom  were  failures.  On  the  sea,  in- 
deed, their  opponents  won  a  signal  success  which  helped 
to  raise  their  spirits.  Four  Genoese  vessels  bringing 
provisions  to  the  city  were  set  upon  by  the  mass  of  the 


THE  GKEEK  EMPIRE  AND  OTTOMAN  TURKS        267 

Turkish  fleet  just  outside  the  Golden  Horn,  where  both 
armies  could  watch  the  combat,  the  Sultan  from  the 
other  side  of  the  walls  of  Galata.  The  Christian  ships 
had  guarded  against  all  dangers,  and  from  their  superior 
height  were  able  to  fling  stones  and  missiles  on  the 
lower-built  Turkish  vessels.  In  vain  the  Sultan  rode  in- 
to the  sea,  until  his  long  robe  swept  the  water,  calling 
forth  impotent  curses  and  useless  advice  to  his  admiral. 
Suddenly  after  a  dead  calm  a  favourable  wind  arose 
which  carried  the  victorious  Italian  vessels  safely  under 
the  protecting  walls  of  the  town.  In  the  night  they 
were  towed  over  the  boom,  whilst  the  Christians  made 
as  much  noise  as  possible  with  trumpets  to  pretend  they 
were  in  huge  force,  so  that  the  Turkish  fleet  might  ex- 
pect an  attack  and  remain  on  the  defensive.  Mahomet 
answered  by  a  true  tour  deforce.  If  he  could  not  cross 
the  boom,  he  would  reach  the  Golden  Horn  in  some 
other  way.     Behind  the  walls  of  Galata  he  constructed  Mahomet's 

.  .    ^      vessels 

a  tramway  of  rollers  and  greased  logs  stretchmg  right  cross  the 
across  the  Httle  Peninsula  from  the  Bosphorus  to  the  ^^ 
harbour,  a  distance  of  about  a  mile  ;  and  over  this  in  a 
single  night  eighty  ships  were  hauled  by  ropes  and 
pulleys  and  oxen.  Strange  indeed  must  have  been  the 
spectacle.  All  the  vessels  were  fitted  out  as  though  on 
sea  ;  sails  were  unfurled,  the  rowers  kept  time  with 
their  oars,  and  shouting  and  music  accompanied  this 
long  voyage  on  dry  land  and  cheered  up  the  spirits  of 
the  men.  The  Christians  were  horrified  by  the  unex- 
pected appearance  of  Turkish  ships  in  their  harbour  and 
were  forced  to  place  stronger  garrisons  than  before  to 
guard  the  seaward  wall.  Nevertheless  the  defence  was 
stout,  and  renewed  assaults  on  walls  and  boom  were 
again  a  failure  ;  even  attempts  to  undermine  the  city 


268  THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

were   rendered   difficult    by   the  rocky   nature   of   the 
ground.     Again  Mahomet  planned  an  unpleasant  sur- 
The  prise   for  the  Christians.      In  a   single   night    a   huge 

ba°st?on       wooden  tower  was  constructed,  so  tall  as  to  overlook 
the  outer  walls  and  to  render  it  possible  to  fling  scaling 
ladders  across  on  to  it ;  whilst  under  its  protection  the 
besiegers  could  work  at  filling  up  the  ditch  in  prepara- 
tion for  a  general  attack.     The  Emperor's  forces  worked 
hard  on  their  side.     All  night  they  toiled  at  repairing 
the  damages  made  by  this  machine  on  their  defences, 
and  succeeded  at  last  in  blowing  up  the  turret  itself  by 
barrels  of  gunpowder  placed  in  the   ditch.      Another 
astonishing   piece  of  work,  which  the   Sultan  carried 
Turkish      through  in  an  incredibly  short  space  of  time,  was  the 
SSjiden  construction  of  a  bridge  across  the  upper  portion  of  the 
^°'""         Golden   Horn  to  join  the  two  divisions  of  his   forces. 
This   was   made   with  over   a  thousand   wine  barrels, 
fastened  together  by  ropes  and  covered  with  beams  and 
planks,  so  that  five  soldiers  could  walk  abreast  on  it ; 
pontoons  also  could  be  attached  to  it,  bearing  cannon 
which  could  be  used  thus  with  a  greater  effect  against 
the  harbour  wall. 
Disunion        For  seveu  weeks  the  struggle  had  been  continuing, 
CitJ'"*^'^  and  within  the  city  party  and    race  dissensions   were 
adding    enormously   to   the  difficulties  of  the  defence. 
The  Greeks  themselves  were  divided  between  those  who 
looked  for  help  to  the  West  and  those  who   hated  any 
idea  of  the  union  ;  Italians  were  dishked  by  the  Greeks 
who  considered  them  as  rivals  in  trade,  and  the  Italians 
themselves  were  split  up  into  Venetians  and  Genoese, 
bitter  enemies  of  long  standing.     One  man,    however, 
commanded  universal  admiration  and  was  obeyed  by  all 
parties  alike.     Justiniani  more  than  justified  the  trust 


THE  GREEK  EMPIRE  AND  OTTOMAN  TURKS        269 

that  had  been  placed  in  him,  and  worked  ably  and 
incessantly  against  the  constant  assaults  of  the  foe. 
When  the  walls  were  battered  down  he  constructed  a 
stockade  of  sticks  and  stones  and  earth,  or  anything  that 
could  be  got  together,  covered  with  skins  to  protect  it 
from  fire.  But  courage  and  resource  were  alike  un- 
availing against  the  overwhelming  numbers  of  the 
enemy,  and  Europe  did  not  raise  a  finger  to  help  the  final 
struggle  of  the  Eastern  Empire.  Towards  the  end  of 
May  the  Sultan  determined  to  attack  the  city  on  all  FJ^ai  at- 
sides  at  once,  and  thus  to  reap  the  full  advantage  of  his 
superior  numbers.  Through  the  camp  went  the  news 
of  his  promise  to  the  soldiers  :  three  days  unhindered 
plunder  to  every  man  in  the  army,  an  inducement  to 
valour  fully  appreciated  by  his  troops.  Within  the  city 
all  felt  the  crisis  was  approaching,  and  the  Emperor 
urged  his  followers  to  one  more  heroic  effort.  "Do  not 
lose  heart,"  he  said,  "  but  comfort  yourselves  with  bright 
hopes,  because,  though  few  in  number,  you  are  skilled  in 
warfare,  strong,  brave  and  noble,  and  proved  in  valour." 
On  the  28th  of  May  the  last  Christian  service  was  held 
in  the  great  Church  of  St.  Sophia,  which  was  crowded 
with  all  who  could  be  spared  from  the  defences.  The 
Emperor  and  his  followers  partook  of  the  Sacrament,  and 
the  solemn  ceremony  over,  all  went  to  their  posts.  On 
May  the  29th,  shortly  after  midnight,  the  general  assault 
began.  The  defences  were  still  strong  and  the  defenders 
were  determined.  Again  and  again  the  besiegers  hurled 
themselves  against  the  stockade,  again  and  again  they 
were  beaten  off.  It  seemed  as  though  the  city  might 
still  be  saved,  when  two  disastrous  accidents  decided 
the  fate  of  the  day.  One  small  gate  leading  to  the 
outer  enclosure  had  been  forgotten,  it  was  found  un- 


270 


THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 


Death  of 
Emperor 
Constan- 
tiiie 


Entry  of 
Mahomet 
II. 


Results  of 
the  Fall  of 
Constanti- 
nople 


guarded  by  the  enemy,  and  a  body  of  Turks  appeared 
unexpectedly  amongst  the  defending  garrison,  and  press- 
ing into  the  city  itself,  hoisted  the  Turkish  flag  on  some 
of  the  turrets.  Worse  than  this,  however,  was  the  with- 
drawal of  Justiniani.  Wounded  mortally  as  it  proved 
later,  he  left  his  post  and  made  his  way  to  his  own  ship 
near  the  harbour,  on  which  he  died  three  days  later.  His 
disappearance  was  the  signal  for  total  demorahsation 
and  despair.  In  vain  Constantine  endeavoured  to  rally 
the  men  and  continue  the  defence  of  the  stockade  ;  the 
Janissaries  forced  their  way  through,  and  the  Emperor, 
plunging  into  the  thick  of  the  fight,  died  in  one  last 
gallant  attempt  in  keep  back  the  inrush  of  the  foe.  By 
sunrise  all  resistance  was  ended,  and  the  city  was  given 
over  to  the  terrible  three  days  of  plunder  which  Mahomet 
had  promised.  After  these,  the  Sultan  himself  made 
solemn  entry  into  the  city ;  and  in  St.  Sophia,  now  a 
Mohammedan  mosque,  the  faith  of  the  prophet  was  pro- 
claiined. 

The  fall  of  Constantinople  marks  the  close  of  our  pe- 
riod and  an  epoch  in  the  world's  history.  The  Eastern 
Empire  disappeared  and  Turkey  was  established  as  a 
European  State.  Europe  was  aghast  at  an  event  she 
had  done  so  little  to  prevent ;  but  indirectly  she  was  to 
reap  good  results  from  the  immediate  evil.  It  is  not 
true  that  the  fall  of  Constantinople  introduced  the  study 
of  Greek  in  the  West :  scholars,  especially  in  Italy, 
were  already  reading  and  teaching  the  language  and  lit- 
erature of  Greece  :  but  after  1453  the  number  of  fugi- 
tives increased  greatly,  and  amongst  these  fugitives 
came  scholars  who  quickly  rose  to  distinction  in  the 
West :  the  study  of  Greek  became  both  more  systematic 
and  more  widespread,  and  helped  the  development  of 


THE  GREEK  EMPIRE  AND  OTTOMAN  TURKS        271 

freedom  of  thought  and  the  breach  with  old  superstitions 
and  old  teaching.  On  the  Turks  themselves  the  result 
of  this  conquest  was  to  make  them  less  nomadic  and 
more  agricultural.  Once  established  in  Europe  they  ex- 
tended their  conquests  westward,  and  became  a  power 
whose  influence  was  to  be  important  throughout  the 
whole  later  history  of  the  Continent. 

ADDITIONAL  BOOKS 
Oman:   The  Byzantine  Empire  ("Story  of  the  Nations"),  and 
Constantinople  ("  Mediaeval  Towns  Series  "). 


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INDEX 


Adolf  of  Nassau,  12. 

jEneas  Sylvius  Piccolomini,  177  ;  at 
Basle,  178. 

Agincourt,  battle  of,  211. 

Agnes  of  Habsburg,  11. 

Ailly,  Cardinal  d',  15(5.  157. 

Albert  I.  of  Habsburg,  11,  273  ;  Em- 
peror, 12  ;  policy,  13  ;  relations 
with  Swabia,  102 ;  murdered 
by  his  nephew,  13,  102. 

Albert  II.,  Emperor,  177. 

Albizzi,  the,  182. 
—  Rinaldo  degli,  199. 

Albornoz,  Cardinal,  86. 

Alexander  V.,  120. 

Alfonso  III.,  King  of  Aragon,  40, 
278. 

Alfonso  IV.,  King  of  Aragon,  278. 

Alfonso  v.,  King  of  Aragon  (the 
Magnanimous),  185,  252,  253, 
278  ;  King  of  Naples  and  Sicily, 
40,  186,  252,  253. 

Alfonso  X.  of  Castile  (the  Wise), 
4,  5,  244,  277. 

Alfonso  XL  of  Castile,  246,  277. 

Alvaro  de  Luna,  Constable  of  Spain, 
247,  249. 

Amadeus  of  Savoy  (Felix  V.),  175, 
177.  178. 

Amiens,  treaty  of,  50. 

Andrew  of  Hungary,  marries  Joanna 
I.  of  Naples,  90 ;  murdered,  91, 
274. 

Angora,  battle  of,  262. 

Anjou,  Dukes  of  first  house.  (See 
Charles.) 

—  Dukes  of  second  house.  (See 
Louis.) 

—  house  of,  connection  with 
Naples,  113,  274 ;  connection 
with  Hungary,  274. 


Aquitaine,  campaign  in,  139  ;  Prin- 
cipality of,  142. 

Aragon,  Kingdom  of,  240  ;  consti- 
tution, 243  ;  disputed  suc- 
cession and  connection  with 
Sicily,  251,  278. 

Armagnac,  Bernard  of,  210. 

Armagnacs  and  Burgundians,  210. 

Arras,  treaty  of,  222. 

Artevelde,   Jacob   van,    131  ;    mur- 
dered, 135. 
—  Philip  van,  204,  205. 

Artois,  Robert,  Count  of,  131. 

Ascania,  house  of,  6. 

Aurai,  battle  of,  151. 

Austria,  under  Ottokar  of  Bohemia, 
7  ;  transferred  to  the  Habs- 
burgs,  10,  11 ;  under  Frederick 
IIL,  179. 

Avignon,  Papal  Court  at,  17,  60. 

Babylonish  captivity,  43,  00 ;  end 
of,  89. 

Bajazet  Ilderim,  Sultan,  261. 

Baltic  Sea,  importance,  226 ;  races 
round  its  shores,  228 ;  departure 
of  the  herring,  238. 

Basle,  Council  of ;  summoned,  164  ; 
opened,  171 ;  Bohemian  depu- 
tation, 172  ;  elects  Felix  V.,  176  ; 
accepts  Nicholas  V.  and  ends, 
178  ;  reasons  for  failure,  179. 

Beaufort,  Henry  Cardinal,  171. 

Bedford,  John  Duke  of,  216,  222. 

Benedict  XL,  42,  60. 

Benedict  XIL,  81. 

Benedict  XIIL  (Avignon),  117,  162. 

Bern,  joins  Swiss  League,  106. 

Berry,  Charles  Duke  of,  203. 

Bianca  Visconti,  marries  Sforza, 
196. 


279 


280 


THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 


Black  Death,  in  Venice,  94 ;  in 
France,  144. 

Black  Prince.     (See  Edwaid.) 

Blacks  and  "S\Tiites,  44,  45. 

Bohemia,  under  Ottokar,  7 ;  dis- 
puted succession  under  Henry 
of  Carinthia,  13 ;  acquired  by 
John  of  Luxemburg,  14  ;  under 
Charles  IV.,  21,  26  ;  under  Sig- 
ismund,  167. 

Boniface  VIII.,  12,  38 ;  character, 
41 ;  quarrel  with  France,  59 ; 
attacked  in  Anagni,  58  ;  death, 
42,  59. 

Boniface  IX.,  116. 

Braccio,  163,  164,  183. 

Brandenburg,  under  house  of  As- 
cania,  6 ;  transferred  to  house 
of  Wittelsbach,  16  ;  to  house  of 
Luxemburg,  24 ;  sold  to  Fred- 
erick of  HohenzoUern,  164. 

Bretigny,  peace  of,  142.  143. 

Brienne,  Walter  of,  Duke  of  Athens, 
80. 

Brittany,  Duchy  of,  133 ;  disputed 
succession,  134 ;  end  of  war, 
152. 

Brun,  Rudolf,  105. 

Bureau,  .Jean,  224. 

Burgundy,  Duchy  of,  179 ;  given  to 
Philip  the  Bold,  203;  under 
John  the  Fearless,  208  ;  under 
PhiUp  the  Good,  216. 

Burgundy,  Dukes  of.  (See  PhiUp 
I.,  II.,  John.) 

Butillo,  nephew  of  Urban  VI.,  116. 

Cane,  Facino,  192. 

Cangrande  della  Scala,  73. 

Carmagnola,  192,  193  ;  executed, 
195. 

Carrara,  Francesco,  190,  193. 

Castile,  Kingdom  of,  240  ;  constitu- 
tion, 242  ;  house  of,  277. 

Castillon,  battle  of,  223. 

Castriot,  George.    (See  Scanderbeg.) 

Castruceio  Castracani,  74,  75  ; 
Duke  of  Lucca,  76  ;  death,  77. 

Catalan  war,  257. 

Celestine  V.,  37. 

Cerchi,  family  of,  44,  45. 

Cesarini,  Cardinal,  171,  262. 


Chandos,  Sir  John,  141,  153. 

Charles  IV.,  Emperor  and  King  of 
Bohemia,  20,  21,  275;  left  in 
Italy,  79 ;  crowned  at  Rome, 
22  ;  published  Golden  Bull,  23  ; 
visited  by  Rienzi,  85 ;  great 
possessions  and  death,  24,  26. 

Charles   IV.,   King  of   France,    17, 

68,  69. 

Charles  V.,  King  of  France  (the 
Wise),  regent  and  dauphin, 
146  ;  became  King,  150  ;  death, 
154. 

Charles  VI.,  King  of  France,  203 ; 
declares  himself  of  age,  205 ; 
goes  mad,  206 ;   death,  215. 

Charles  VII.,  King  of  France,  215  ; 
crowned  at  Rheims,  220  ;  results 
of  the  reign,  224  ;  death,  225. 

Charles,  King  of  Navarre  (the  Bad), 

69,  129,  139. 

Charles  of  Valois,  brother  of  Philip 
IV.,  14, 39,  41,  69  ;  in  Florence, 
45  ;  claims  in  Aragon,  39,  50  ; 
given  up,  53. 

Charles  I.  (of  Anjou),  King  of  Naples 
and  Sicily,  34,  35,  37,  38,  '250, 
274  ;  died  at  Foggia,  39. 

Charles  II.  (of  Anjou),  King  of 
Naples,  captured  at  Messina, 
39 ;  released  and  made  King 
of  Naples,  40,  274. 

Charles  III.  (of  Durazzo),  King  of 
Naples,  91,  92, 183,  274  ;  claims 
on  Hungary,  and  murder,  184. 

Charles  of  Blois,  134  ;  killed  at 
Aurai,  152. 

Charles  of  Calabria,  son  of  Robert 
of  Naples,  75,  77,  274. 

Chioggia,  war  of,  95. 

Chlum,  John  of,  160. 

Ciompi,  rising  of,  198. 

Clarence,  Lionel  Duke  of,  189. 

Clement  V.  (Archbishop  of  Bor- 
deaux), 17,  42,  60. 

Clement  VI.,  20. 

Clement  VH.  (Avignon),  90  ;  charac- 
ter, 114  ;  death,  117. 

Clericis  Laicos,  bull  of,  56. 

Cceur,  Jacques,  224. 

Colonna.  family  of,  41,  42,  80,  87, 
162, 


INDEX 


281 


Colonna,  Sciarra,  59,  77. 
Condottieri,     71,     163,     183,     192, 

194. 
Constance,   Council    of,     127,    155- 

164  ;    causes   of    failure,    163, 

179. 
Constance   of    Sicily,   daughter    of 

Manfred,  38,  250. 
Constantine,   Greek  Emperor,  264, 

270. 
Constantinople,  weakness   of,   260 ; 

first  siege  of,  261 ;   last  siege, 

264  sq. ;  topography,  264,  265, 

266  ;  fall,  and  its  results,  270. 
Contarini,  Andrea,  Doge  of  Venice, 

95. 
Cortes  of  Aragon,  243. 
—  of  Castile,  242,  243. 
Courtrai,  battle  of,  54. 
Cre<?y,  battle  of,  136. 
Crowns,  the  four,  3. 

D.\NTE,    43 ;     his    de     Monarchia, 

46. 
Dauphine,  146. 
De  Monarchia  of  Dante,  46. 
Diet,  Imperial,  7. 
Doffingen,  battle  of,  123. 
Donati,  family  of,  44,  45. 

ECORCHEUES,  223. 

Edward  I.,  King  of  England,  41,  50, 

53,  54. 
Edward  III.,  King  of  England,  19, 

22 ;    claims   on   France,    129 ; 

causes   of  war,   130  ;  relations 

with  Lewis  the  Bavarian,  132  ; 

invasion  of  France,  136,  138 ; 

makes  peace  at  Bretigni,  142. 
Edward,  the  Black  Prince,  137,  139  ; 

wins   battle   of    Poitiers,    140 ; 

Prince  of  Aquitaine,  142  ;  helps 

Pedro    the    Cruel,    152,    246; 

leaves  France  and  dies,  153. 
Eger,  peace  of,  124. 
Electors,  the  seven,  4,  15 ;  regulated 

by  Golden  Bull,  23. 
Elizabeth   of    Hungary,    widow    of 

Lewis  the  Great,  183,  184. 
Eric  of  Pomerania,  238. 
Eugenius  IV.,  164,    171,   175,   178, 

186. 


Faliki;,  Marin,  Doge  of  Venice,  94, 
95. 

Felix  v.,  anti-pope  (Amadeus  of 
Savoy),  176,  177,  178. 

Ferdinand  I.,  King  of  Aragon  and 
Sicily,  247,  252,  278. 

Ferdinand  IV.,  King  of  Castile,  245, 
277. 

Ferrara,  Council  of,  175. 

Flanders,  the  wool  trade,  130  ;  rela- 
tions to  England  and  France, 
131 ;  risings  against  the  Court, 
131,  204  ;  joined  to  Burgundy, 
203. 

Flanders,  Guy  of  Dampierre,  Count 
of,  53,  54. 

Flanders,  Louis  II.,  de  Nevers, 
Count  of,  130. 

Flanders,  Louis  III.,  le  Male,  Count 
of,  203. 

Flanders,  Margaret  of,  203. 

Flor,  Eoger  de,  257. 

Florence,  32 ;  constitution,  33 ; 
parties  in,  43,  44 ;  under  the 
Duke  of  Athens,  80  ;  victory  of 
oligarchy,  182,  199;  rivalry 
between  Albizzi  and  Medici, 
199 ;  war  with  Lucca,  200 ; 
under  the  Medici,  200. 

Florence,  Council  of,  176. 

Flotte,  Pierre,  57,  58,  66. 

Foscari,  Francesco,  Doge  of  Venice, 
193,  198. 

Fraticelli,  the,  85. 

Frederick  III.,  Emperor,  177,  178. 

Frederick  of  Habsburg  (the  Hand- 
some), 15,  16. 

Frederick  of  Aragon,  King  of  Sicily, 
marries  daughter  of  Charles  of 
Naples,  40,  278. 

Frederick  ol  Hohenzoilern,  Burgrave 
of  Nuremberg,  7,  16. 

Galata  or  Pera,  suburb  of  Constan- 
tinople, 260,  261. 

General  Privilege,  the,  in  Aragon, 
243. 

Genoa,  war  with  Venice,  94,  96 ; 
decline  in  power,  182  ;  pos- 
sessions in  Greek  Empire, 
260. 

Ghibelline  party,  14,  35,  43,  73. 


282 


THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 


Glarus,  joins  Swiss  League  of  Con- 
federation, 106. 

Gloucester,  Humphrey  Duke  of,  165, 
256. 

Goellheim,  battle  of,  12. 

Golden  Bull,  23. 
—  Horn,  264,  268. 

Granada,  Kingdom  of,  240. 

Great  Ordinance,  in  France,  146. 

Greek  Empire,  255. 

Gregory  X.,  11,  35,  36. 

Gregory  XI ,  returns  to  Rome,  89. 

Gregory  XH.  (Rome),  118,  162. 

Guelfs  and  Ghihellines,  43,  73. 

Guesclin,  Bertrand  du,  150,  151 ; 
sent  to  Spain,  152  ;  made  Con- 
stable of  France,  153 ;  death, 
154. 

Gunther  of  Schwarzburg,  rival  of 
Charles  IV.,  22. 

Guy  of  Dampierre.  (See  Count  of 
Flanders.) 

Guzman  the  Good  245. 

Habsburg,  house   of,  5,  7,    11,  99, 

179,  273. 
Hadrian  V.,  36. 

Hakon,  King  of  Norway,  234,  237. 
Hanse  Towns,  231,  232,  233. 
Hanseatic  League,   232,   233,    234 ; 

height  of  power,  236 ;  gradual 

decline,  238. 
Hedwig,    daughter    of     Lewis    the 

Great,  230,  274. 
Hennebon,  siege  of,  135. 
Henry  VII.  (of    Luxemburg),   Em- 
peror, 14,274  ;  in  Italy,  15,  46  ; 

crowned  at  Rome   and    death, 

47 ;  failure  of  policy,  48. 
Henry   V.,  King  of  England,  165 ; 

invades    France,   211  ;    death, 

214. 
Henry  VI.,  King  of  England,  215 ; 

crowned  in  Paris,  221. 
Henry  II.  (of  Trastamare),  King  of 

Castile,  152,  246,  247,  277. 
Henry  III.,  King   of   Castile,   247, 

277. 
Henry   of   Carinthia,    13 ;  King   of 

Bohemia,  14,  15,  19. 
Henry  the  Navigator,  254. 
Hohenstaufen,  house  of,  1,  8,  14,34. 


Hohenzollern,  house  of,  7.  J 

Holland,  acquired  by  house  of  Wit-  H 
telsbach,  19,  20.  ^ 

Holy  Roman  Empire,  theory  of,  1, 3. 

Honorius  IV.,  36. 

Humphrey,  Duke  of  Gloucester.  (See 
Gloucester.) 

Hundred  Years'  War  declared,  133  ;  J 
end  and  results,  223.  fl 

Hungary,  united  to  Poland  under  ^ 
Lewis  the  Great,  122  ;  acquired  wl 
by  Sigismund,  122.  '' 

Hunyadi,  John,  262. 

Huss,  John,  156  ;  comes  to  Con- 
stance, 157  ;  Ws  teaching,  159  ; 
trial,  160  ;  execution,  161. 

Hussite  war,  159,  166,  167,  169, 
171. 

Imperial  cities,  7. 
Innocent  V.,  36. 
Innocent  VII.  (Rome),  118. 
Interregnum,  the  Great,  1,  2,  4. 
Isabella  of  Castile,  249,  277. 
Italy,  causes  of  disunion,  27  ;  city 
states  of,  28,  71, 

Jacqueline  of  Haiuault,  216. 

.Jacquerie,  the,  147,  148. 

Jacques  Cceur,  224. 

Jacquetta  of  Luxemburg,  222. 

Jagello  of  Lithuania,  122 ;  took 
name  of  Ladislas  V.  and  united 
Poland,  122,  230. 

James  I.  (the  Conqueror),  King  of 
Aragon,  249,  251,  278. 

James  IL,  King  of  Aragon  and  of 
Sicily,  40,  251,  278. 

Janissaries,  259. 

Jerome  of  Prague,  comes  to  Con- 
stance, 160 ;  trial  and  execu- 
tion, 161,  162. 

Joan  of  Arc,  218  ;  relieves  Orleans, 
219 ;  captured  at  Compi^gne, 
220 ;  trial  and  death,  221. 

Joan  of  Flanders,  widow  of  John  of 
Montfort,  134,  135. 

.Joan  of  Penthievre,  134. 

Joanna  L,  Queen  of  Naples,  90,  91, 
92. 

Joanna  II.,  Queen  of  Naples,  163, 
185,  186. 


INDEX 


283 


Jobst  of  Moravia,  122. 

John  XXL,  36. 

John  XXII.,  17,  18. 

John  XXIII.  (Eome),  120,  127; 
comes  to  Constance,  156  ;  con- 
sents to  abdicate,  157  ;  escapes 
and  is  deposed,  158. 

John  VI.,  Greek  Emperor,  174,  256. 

John  (the  Good),  King  of  France, 
137 ;  taken  at  Poitiers,  141 ; 
death,  1.50. 

John  II.,  King  of  Castile,  247,  277. 

John  (of  Luxemburg),  King  of  Bo- 
hemia, 14,  15,  19,  20,  275  ;  in 
Italy,  77,  78,  79  ;  becomes  Wind, 
79  ;  death  at  Cre^y,  80,  137. 

John  (the  Fearless),  Duke  of  Bur- 
gundy, 208,  260 ;  murders 
Orleans,  209  ;  his  own  murder, 
213,  214. 

John  of  Gaunt.     (See  Lancaster.) 

Jubilee  of  Boniface  VIII.,  56. 
—     of  Nicholas  V.,  178. 

Justiniani,  John,  264,  267,  268. 

Kalmar,  Union  of,  238. 
Korybut  of  Poland,  170. 

Ladislas,  King  of  Naples,  son  of 
Charles  IV.  (of  Durazzo),  113, 
116,  127,  184,  185,  274. 

Ladislas  V.,  of  Poland  (see  Jagello), 
122,  230. 

Ladislas  VI.,  of  Poland,  170 ;  killed 
at  Varna,  262. 

La  Hogue,  landing  of  English,  136. 

Lancaster,  John  of  Gaunt,  Duke  of, 
claims  in  Castile,  247,  277. 

Leopold  of  Habsburg,  son  of  Albert 
I.,  helped  Frederick  the  Hand- 
some, 15,  16 ;  killed  at  Sem- 
paeh,  189,  273. 

Lewis  of  Bavaria,  Emperor,  disputed 
election,  15,  16 ;  quarrel  with 
Papacy,  17  ;  expedition  to  Italy 
and  coronation,  18,  75,  76,  79  ; 
relations  with  England,  19 ; 
death,   20. 

Lewis  (the  Great),  King  of  Hun- 
gary and  Poland,  91,  122,  183, 
274. 

Lewis  of  Taranto,  91. 


Limoges,  massacre  of,  153. 

Lionel,  Duke  of  Clarence,  189. 

Lipan,  battle  of,  172. 

Lodi,  peace  of,  196. 

Loria,  Eoger  de,  39,  250. 

Louis  X.,  King  of  Fiance,  67,  69. 

Louis  I.  of  Anjou,  brother  of  Charles 
V.  of  France,  113,  203,  204, 
274. 

Louis  II.  of  Anjou,  113,  184,  274. 

Louis  III.  of  Anjou,  Duke  of  Cal- 
abria, 185,  274. 

Louis  de  Nevers,  Count  of  Flanders, 
130. 

Louis  le  Male,  Count  of  Flanders, 
203. 

Lucca,  war  with  Florence,  200. 

Lucerne,  joins  Swiss  League  of  Con- 
federation, 104. 

Luxemburg,  house  of,  7,  24,  122, 
275. 

Lyons,  Council  of,  35,  256. 

Magnus,  King  of  Sweden,  236. 

Mahomet  II.,  Sultan,  264. 

Maillotins,  the,  204,  205. 

Malatesta,  194. 

Manfred,  King  of  Sicily,  34,  38. 

Manny,  \Valter,  135. 

Marcel,  Etienne,  Provost  of  Mer- 
chants, 145  ;  allied  with  the 
Jacquerie  and  Navarre,  147 ; 
meeting  with  the  dauphin  and 
murder  of  marshals,  148  ; 
death,  149. 

Marchfeld,  battle  of,  11. 

Margaret,  Queen  of  Denmark,  Nor- 
way and  Sweden,  237. 

Margaret  of  Anjou,  223. 

Margaret  of  Flanders,  203. 

Margaret  Maultasch,  19. 

Marin  Falier,  Doge  of  Venice,  94, 
95. 

Marmousets,  the,  205. 

Martin  IV.,  36,  40. 

Martin  V.,  162,  164,  171. 

Martin  I.,  King  of  Aragon  and  Si- 
cily, 251,  278. 

Martino  della  Torre,  30. 

Mastino  della  Scala,  78,  93. 

Matilda  of  Artois,  132. 

Matins  of  Bruges,  54. 


284 


THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 


Medici,  Cosimo  de',  182,  200  ;  home 
policy,  200  ;  foreign  policy,  202. 

Medici,  Giovanni  de',  199. 

Meinhard  of  Tyrol,  11, 

Messina,  battle  of,  39. 

Milan,  28  ;  under  Visconti,  181, 186, 
187  ;  becomes  a  Duchy,  189  ; 
under  Sforza,  196. 

Molai,  Jacques  de,  Grand  Master  of 
the  Templars,  62,  63. 

Mons-en-Puelle,  battle  of,  55. 

Montecatini,  battle  of,  73. 

Montereau,  bridge  of,  213.         [134. 

Montfort,  John  of,  claims  Brittany. 

Montfort,  John  IV.,  Duke  of  Brit- 
tany, son  of  above,  152. 

Morgarten,  battle  of,  102. 

Miihldorf,  battle  of,  16. 

Nafels,  battle  of,  108.  [246. 

Najara,  or  Navaretta,  battle  of,  152, 

Naples  and  Sicily,  Kingdom  of,  34, 
38  ;  divided,  40  ;  re  -  united 
under  Alfonso  V.  of  Aragon, 
186,  252. 

Naples,  Kingdom  of,  divided  from 
Sicily  and  acquired  by  first 
house  of  Anjou,  40 ;  under 
Joanna  I.,  90 ;  invaded  by 
Lewis  of  Hungary,  91 ;  claimed 
by  second  house  of  Anjou,  92 ; 
under  Charles  III.  (of  Durazzo), 
183  ;  further  disputes  over  suc- 
cession, 184,  185  ;  acquired  by 
Alfonso  V.  of  Aragon  and  re- 
united to  Sicily,  186,  252. 

Navaretta,  or  Najara,  battle  of,  152. 
246. 

Navarre,  Charles  the  Bad  of.  (See 
Charles.) 

Navarre,  Kingdom  of,  129,  241,  253. 

Nicholas  III.,  36. 

Nicholas  IV.,  37. 

Nicholas  V.  (Anti-Pope),  18. 

Nicholas  V.,  178,  179. 

Nicholas  of  Husinec,  167. 

Nicopolis,  battle  of,  261. 

Nogaret,  William  of,  58,  59. 

Olaf,  King  of  Denmark,  237. 

Orchan,  Sultan,  259. 

Ordinance  of  1439  in  France,  224. 


Orleans,  Charles  Duke  of,  son  of 
Louis  and  Valentine  Visconti, 
196. 

Orleans,  Louis  Duke  of,  father  of 
the  above,  207 ;  rivalry  with 
Burgundy,  208  ;  marriage  with 
Valentine  Visconti,  189  ;  mur- 
der, 208. 

Orleans,  Maid  of.  (See  Joan  of 
Arc.) 

Orleans,  siege  of,  219. 

Orphans,  the,  170,  172. 

Orsini,  house  of,  36,  80. 

Othman,  Sultan,  258. 

Ottokar  of  Bohemia,  7,  10,  11. 

Ottoman  Turks,  257,  258. 

Padua,  war  with  Milan,  190,  191. 

Palseologus,  family  of,  255. 

Patay,  battle  of,  219. 

Pedro  the  Cruel,  King  of  Castile, 
152,  153,  240. 

Pedro  III.,  the  Great,  King  of  Ara- 
gon, 250,  278 ;  claimed  King- 
dom of  Sicily,  38,  39 ;  pro- 
claimed King  and  challenges 
Charles  of  Anjou  to  single  com- 
bat, 250 ;  attacked  by  Philip 
IIL  of  France,  50 ;  death,  251. 

Pera.     (See  Galata.) 

Perpetual  League,  101. 

Petrarch,  81. 

Philip  III.  (the  Bold),  King  of 
France  49 ;  possessions  and 
war  with  Aragon,  50 ;  death, 
39,  51. 

Philip  IV.  (the  Fair),  King  of 
France,  13,  17 ;  marriage,  50  ; 
character  and  policy,  50,  52  ; 
relations  with  England,  53 ; 
war  with  Flanders,  54  ;  quarrel 
with  Pope,  55  ;  home  govern- 
ment, 63 ;  financial  administra- 
tion, 67  ;  death,  63. 

Philip  v..  King  of  France,  68,  69. 

Philip  VI.  (of  Valois),  King  of 
France,  68,  69,  129;  defeated 
at  Creepy,  137  ;  death,  138. 

Philip  I.  (the  Bold),  Duke  of  Bur- 
gundy, son  of  John  of  France, 
141,  207 ;  acquires  Burgundy, 
203 ;  death,  208. 


INDEX 


285 


Philip  II.  (the  Good),  Duke  of  Bur- 
gundy, 207,  216,  222. 

Philip  of  Tarento,  73. 

Piccinino,  183,  194. 

Pisa,  Council  of,  119. 
—    Eepublic  of,  73. 

Pisani,  Victor,  95,  96. 

Poitiers,  battle  of,  140. 

Poland,  Kingdom  of,  united  with 
Hungary  under  Lewis  the 
Great,  and  to  Lithuania  under 
Ladislas  V.  (Jagello),  122,  230. 

Portugal,  Kingdom  of,  254. 

Prague,  four  articles  of,  168. 

Praguerie,  the,  223. 

Premyslides,  family  of,  13,  14. 

Princes  of  the  Fleurs  de  Lys,  203. 

Procida,  John  of,  38. 

Prokop  the  Great,  171,  172. 

Rene  le  Bon  of  Provence,  185, 
278. 

Rense,  declaration  of,  18. 

Richard  of  Cornwall,  King  of  the 
Romans,  4,  5. 

Richemont,  Arthur  of,  215,  222. 

Rienzi,  Coia  di,  81 ;  Tribune  of 
Roman  republic,  83  ;  knighted 
and  crowned,  84  ;  abdicated, 
85 ;  sent  back  to  Rome,  86 ; 
death,  87. 

Robert,  King  of  Naples,  47,  73,  74, 
90,  274. 

Robert,  Count  of  Artois,  131. 

Rocca  Seeca,  battle  of,  184. 

Roger  de  Flor,  257. 

Roger  de  Loria,  250. 

Rome,  turbulence,  70  ;  family  divi- 
sions, 80;  under  Rienzi,  82; 
condition  after  fall  of  Rienzi, 
86  ;  return  of  Popes,  89 ;  re- 
volts against  Eugenius  IV., 
171;  jubilee  in  1450,  178. 

Rosbecque,  battle  of,  204. 

Rouen,  siege  of,  212,  213. 

Rudolf  I.  (of  Habsburg),  Emperor, 
5,  8,  10,  11,  34,  35,  273 ;  rela- 
tions with  Swabia,  101. 

Rudolf  of  Habsburg,  son  of  Rudolf 
L,  11. 

son   of   Albert   I.,  King   of 

Bohemia,  13,  273. 


Rupert,  Count  Palatine,  elected 
King  of  the  Romans,  125 ; 
death,  126. 

Riitli,  oath  of  the,  104, 

Saint  Catherine  of  Siena,  88,  89, 

90. 
Saint  Sophia,  church  of,  269. 
Salado,  battle  of,  246. 
Salic  law,  68. 

Sancho  IV.,  King  of  Castile,  245. 
Sapienza,  battle  of,  95. 
SaveUi,  family  of,  43. 
Savona,    proposed    conference    at, 

119. 
Savoy  and  Piedmont,  28. 
Scanderbeg  (George  Castriot),  263, 

264. 
Schism    in    empire,    112   ;     triple 

schism,   126. 
Schism  in  Papacy,  112 ;  attitude  of 

Europe,  115. 
Schweppermann,  16. 
Sempach,  battle  of,  107. 

—  Convention  of,  109. 
Sforza,  Attendolo,  163,  183,  194. 

—  Francesco,  194 ;  marries  and 
becomes  Duke  of  Milan,  196. 

Sicilian  Vespers,  38,  39. 
Sicily,  Constance  of,  38,  250. 

—  Kingdom  of,  united  to  Naples, 
34,  38  ;  separated  and  given  to 
James  of  Aragon,  40 ;  united 
to  Kingdom  of  Aragon,  251 ;  re- 
united to  Naples  under  Alfonso 
V.  of  Aragon,  186,  252. 

—  Manfred  of,  34,  38,  250. 
Sigismund,  Emperor,  son  of  Charles 

IV.,  Ill,  275;  King  of  Hun- 
gary, 122  ;  elected  King  of  the 
Romans,  126  ;  at  Council  of 
Constance,  156,  158,  160;  his 
travels,  164  ;  in  France  and 
England,  165  ;  character,  166  ; 
King  of  Bohemia,  167,  173  ; 
crowned  in  Rome,  173  ;  crusade 
against  Turks,  260  ;  death,  174. 

Sluys,  battle  of,  133. 

States  of  the  Church,  34. 

States-General  in  France,  57,  65, 
66,  146. 

Stralsund,  treaty  of,  237. 


286 


THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 


Swabia,  Duchy  of,  98,  99,  100. 
Swabian  League,  123. 
Swiss  Confederation,  109. 

Taboeites,  the,  167,  168,  170,  172. 

Tamerlane  (or  Timour)  the  Tartar, 
261. 

Tanneguy  du  Chatel,  213,  214. 

Tannenberg,  battle  of,  231. 

Tarifa,  siege  of,  245. 

Tauss,  battle  of,  171. 

Tell,  William,  103. 

Templars,  Order  of,  61 ;  accusations 
against,  62  ;  suppression,  63. 

Teutonic  Knights,  61,  228;  con- 
quer Prussia,  229 ;  crusades 
in  Lithuania,  230. 

Thorn,  peace  of,  231. 

Timour  (or  Tamerlane)  the  Tartar, 
261. 

Town  war,  122. 

Traussitz,  castle  of,  16. 

Troyes,  treaty  of,  214. 

Turin,  peace  of,  96. 

Uguccione  della  Faggiuola,  73. 

Urban  VI.,  election,  89,  114 ;  char- 
acter, 114  ;  quarrel  with  Naples, 
116. 

Utraquists,  the,  167,  168. 

Venice,  30 ;  constitution,  31  ;  im- 
portance, 92 ;  rivalry  with 
Genoa,  93 ;  war  with  Verona 
and  Hungary,  93  ;  with  Genoa, 
94 ;  prosperity,  91  ;  in  four- 
teenth century,  182 ;  advance 
on  mainland,  193, 194;  war  with 
Hungary  and  Milan,  193 ;  do- 
mestic history,  196  ;  dangers 
threatening,  198 ;  possessions 
in  Greek  Empire,  260. 

Verneuil,  battle  of,  216. 

Verona,  rivalry  with  Venice,  93. 

Visconti,  family  of,  276. 

Visconti,  Azzo,  80,  276. 


Visconti,    Bernabo,    89,    187,    188, 

276. 
Visconti,  Bianca,  196,  276. 
Visconti,  FiUppo  Maria,   173,    191, 

192,  195. 
Visconti,  Galeazzo  I.,  76,  276. 
Visconti,   Galeazzo    11.,    187,    188, 

276. 
Visconti,   Gian   Galeazzo,   80,   188, 

189,  190,  191,  276. 
Visconti,  Gian  Maria,  191, 192,  276. 
Visconti,    Giovani,    Archbishop   of 

Milan,  186,  276. 
Visconti,  Matteo  I.,  73,  186,  276. 
Visconti,  Matteo  IL,  187,  276. 
Visconti,  Otto,  30. 
Visconti,  Valentine,  189,  207,  276. 

Waldemar  hi.  (Atterdag),  King  of 
Denmark,  234  ;  war  with  Hanse 
Towns,  235. 

Welf,  house  of,  7. 

Wenzel  U.,  King  of  Bohemia,  11, 
275 ;  elected  King  of  Poland, 
13. 

Wenzel  III.,  King  of  Bohemia  and 
Emperor,  24,  112,  275;  char- 
acter, 121,  124  ;  deposed,  125  ; 
death,  167. 

Wettin,  house  of,  7. 

Winkelried,  Arnold  von,  108. 

Wisby,  sack  of,  235. 

Wittelsbach,  house  of,  6 ;  two 
branches  in  Bavaria,  15 ;  ac- 
quisition of  Brandenburg,  16 ; 
possessions,  20,  22. 

Wittenborg,  Burgomaster  of  Liibeck, 
236. 

Wycliffe,  John,  156,  159,  161. 

Zeno,  Carlo,  95,  96. 

Ziska,  167,  169 ;  his  "  bloody  year," 
170. 

Zug,  joins  Swiss  League  of  Con- 
federation, 106. 

Zurich,  joins  League,  106. 


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